How Katie Holmes Got Away From Tom Cruise and Scientology
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise were a defining power couple of the 2000s. However, the reasons weren’t all positive. As with all of Cruise’s marriages, his time with the former Dawson’s Creek actor was a strange public spectacle thanks to his involvement with the Church of Scientology.
Holmes was distressingly quiet about her situation while married to the Top Gun: Maverick star. Eventually, she had a dramatic split with both Cruise and the notoriously possessive Scientology leadership. While not all the particulars are public knowledge, a few shocking details explain how Holmes got away from Scientology and her superstar ex-husband.
Katie Holmes was fully immersed in Scientology during her marriage to Tom Cruise
Holmes first mentioned an affinity for Cruise in 2004. A year later, the pair went public with the paparazzi regularly spotting them together in LA. Holmes showed no overt signs of ties to Scientology during this time, but it coincided with her then-boyfriend’s infamous outburst on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Fans from her Dawson’s Creek days were baffled by the connection but cautiously optimistic given Cruise’s status.
Things got increasingly odd from here. Holmes started turning down roles just as her career was taking off. She was pregnant by October 2005. She walked away from millions to reprise her Batman Begins role as Rachel Dawes, preferring to switch gears. While Holmes didn’t retire from acting entirely, her choices were increasingly limited and erratic.
According to The Daily Beast, her seven years in Scientology overlapped with a strangely curated period of films that nearly ruined her career. Instead of The Dark Knight, Holmes went with the critically-derided Mad Money. She no longer gave her usual excitable interviews. Instead, Holmes went so quiet that, to fans, it felt like she went underground.
How Katie Holmes escaped Scientology
Holmes appears to be under an NDA with the Church of Scientology. It’s a go-to strategy for the controversial New Age religion, which is noted for an “attack, don’t defend” strategy for dealing with its apostates. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Holmes was a victim of this very strategy, as she quietly made one of the highest-profile exits from the church.
But unlike Nicole Kidman, who found herself cornered by the church’s legal and public relations bullying tactics, Holmes had an aggressive strategy of her own. She blindsided Cruise by filing for divorce without warning. Then she hired high-powered attorneys — matrimonial and divorce specialists — in Allan Mayefsky and Jonathan Wolfe.
From there, Holmes applied for sole custody of their daughter, Suri Cruise. She then tapped other ex-Scientologists, including the niece of current Scientology leader David Miscavige. Holmes also fired Cruise’s daughter Isabella (adopted during his marriage to Kidman) from working as her assistant, all as part of a strategy to clear the way for a fierce and sudden exit from the Church. While she remains reticent to share the details of everything that went down, Holmes got her way, including sole custody.
What is Katie Holmes doing now?
Holmes’ pointed strategy, buoyed by the increasing public backlash against Scientology, worked in her favor. After spending a year totally focused on her divorce and separation from the Church, she slowly began rebuilding her career. One notable difficulty is her ex-husband’s deep loyalty to Miscavige. Holmes’ daughter, Suri Cruise, is apparently estranged from her famous father.
Holmes returned to film by taking on strong leading roles in thoughtful dramas. Long gone are the days of frivolously light fare like Mad Money. She’s also spending a great deal of time at fashion shows, as well as hitting Broadway. According to Broadway World, in 2023, she played a co-lead, alongside Eddie Kaye Thomas, in a heady marriage drama about an orthodox Jewish couple. Holmes also directed and starred in a 2023 movie, Rare Objects. In the drama, a young woman works in an antique store as she rebuilds her life.
Her ex-husband may be in an improbable late-career resurgence, thanks to Top Gun: Maverick. But Holmes doesn’t exist in his orbit at all anymore. And now she’s taking on exactly the kinds of roles she wants to do.
