Suri Cruise just celebrated her 14th birthday a few days ago. Katie Holmes celebrated her only child’s birthday by posting a cute pic of the back of Suri’s head as Suri wore a flower crown. I would imagine Suri’s birthday celebration was just Katie and Suri at home in New York by themselves during the lockdown. From one captivity to another! No, I jest. Scientology captivity is terrifying in a different way than pandemic captivity. Anyway, Us Weekly used this moment (Suri’s birthday) to do a cover story on how Suri and Katie are fine.
Name a better mother-daughter duo! Since becoming a single parent, Katie Holmes has been determined to give her daughter, Suri, the best life she can get — and as a result, their bond is unlike any other.
“You’d struggle to find a mom-daughter duo who are more in sync with each other,” an insider says exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly. “They’re a real team — their connection is a beautiful thing to witness.”
After divorcing Tom Cruise in 2012, the actress, 42, worked hard at raising their now teenage daughter the way she wants. (Us previously reported that the actor, 57, doesn’t have a relationship with Suri because of his affiliation to the Church of Scientology.) Like most teens — she just celebrated her 14th birthday on April 18 — “Suri is very naturally athletic and excels at physical activities like gymnastics and dance,” a second source notes. She also has a close group of friends, adds the source, and is “well-liked.”
Suri is well-behaved too. “She’s is a great kid,” a source told Us in April 2019. “She’s extremely polite and well-mannered. She’s a good girl who’s a joy to be around; she doesn’t come across as spoiled or like a celebrity kid at all.”
Her good-nature is one of the many reasons she’s “really protective” of the Dawson’s Creek alum, the first insider notes. “If Katie’s feeling stressed or down, Suri’s very compassionate and loving. Katie feels like her daughter really is her little angel. It’s no exaggeration to say that Suri and Katie have saved each other,” the insider continues. “They really are wonderful together.”
Honestly, this sounds a lot like A) how a lot of only children are with their parents and B) how a lot of kids are with their single moms. It’s a combination of both of those factors, Suri being an only child and Katie being a single mom. That’s why they’re so connected, which I totally believe. I think when Katie escaped CoS’s clutches in the dead of night with her child, she knew that this was how it would be for her, that she would be raising Suri by herself, that it would “Katie & Suri against the world.” Anyway, it’s great to hear that Suri is a well-adjusted normal teenager. Back when she was just a baby, I did worry that the whole thing would end up a mess.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I know some people find Katie Holmes’ personality bland and wish she would be more gossipy in interviews, but I truly think it’s because she’s 100% committed to being a good mother to her daughter. Anything she would say could end up hurting or be detrimental to Suri’s well-being.
And I give her massive props for this – she knows it’s better to be less relevant but a good mum. Sounds normal to us but within the Hollywood circle, it’s not always the case.
Yeah. The bland isn’t fun from a gossip standpoint – but honestly? I think she seems like pretty cool person. She clearly adores her kid, she’s not just chasing headlines or anything. I feel like she’s one of the celebrities that seem to have stayed genuine to themselves and not completely bought her own hype.
I think it’s also because of how over-shared and public everything was when she was with TC… I could see getting sick of that pretty quickly.
Burner phones to get away from TC. She’s awesome.
Suri still has Tom’s last name? Interesting.
is it that easy to Change it in the US?
I always kinda thought maybe Katie changed Suri’s last name privately but I’ve seen a few pics of Katie and suri donatinf cupcakes to hospital workers and she signed it Suri Cruise. I wonder if maybe she thinks there’s no point and it might just give in to the theories Tom wasn’t her biological dad even though Suri has a lot of Toms features.
The theories around Katie’s fake belly and questionable paternity back in the day were pretty fun, but that young girl looks exactly like Tom now. No question she’s his kid.
agree with Molly, Suri is a spitting image of Tom
Unless TC has legally given up his parental rights to Suri, he’d have to agree to a name change. He won’t do that because then he’d have to go back on all his lies that CoS doesn’t make you choose between them and your children.
That’s so sick
As an adult, Suri can choose to use any last name that she wants. It will be interesting to see if she decides to use her mother’s last name. (Although with whatever Katie has on Tom, I’m sure if a name change were important to Suri now, Katie could make it happen.)
She has an absent and neglectful father but there’s no problem in keeping his last name. The parents were married when she was born and it is her legal name.
Tom’s real last name (or at least the one he was born with) is not Cruise, it’s Mapother. But his father was horrible and abusive according to Tom and Cruise is his middle name so that’s his show name unless he legally changed it too (a lot of celebrities don’t but use a stage name). So Suri’s real legal name should technically be Mapother but Tom’s other kids also go by Cruise too.
He legally changed his name to “Tom Cruise” right around the time he started hitting it big.
Her real legal name is whatever they put on the birth certificate. There are celebrity parents with stage names who give their kids their stage name as their legal name on their bc. Normal parents sometimes give their kids double barrel surnames that the parents don’t use, and I know one family that mashed up the parents’ surnames to create a whole new surname for their kids. You can do whatever you want on your kid’s bc and that is their legal name. It doesn’t matter if Tom ever officially changed his surname, he named his daughter Suri Cruise, that is her name.
Anything that TC put out in the press about his family is probably pure BS. The only thing he touts is what is beneficial to him, pure and simple. I also find him to be a POS for what he did to Nicole, in which he claimed that they were separated before their 10 year wedding anniversary, which turned out to be a blatant lie. The divorce also completely blindsided Nicole as she had no idea he filed. The fact that he chooses the cult over Suri makes him a grade A POS.
It’s perfectly normal for kids to carry the last name of a father they barely/don’t know, but you can actually enroll your kid in school under a name other than her legal one . . . i.e. she could absolutely enroll Suri in school under the name Suri Holmes, and after 7 years it would become her common law name. My guess is that she, like plenty of divorced mothers, just did what was easiest and continued using the name on her child’s birth certificate.
There is *no law* saying the birth certificate has to list the child’s last name as the father’s legal last name, so it’s irrelevant whether Tom changed his name legally. If her name is Cruise on the birth certificate it’s because it’s what was chosen for her at birth. My gawd people, it’s the 21st century. You’re all also aware that children born to single mothers no longer have “bastard” stamped on their birth certificate, right? Names are chosen, not dictated by law.
This “common law name” isn’t a good idea for kids, never enroll your child in school with a name that’s not on their social security card, it becomes an extreme hassle when applying to college and even more so if you have to apply for a license such as nursing. Speaking from experience on how it was extremely hard and time consuming for me in regards to college and my nursing degree.
I mean, they’ve been through some sh*t. And let’s not forget that the girl has to live with a father who very publicly chose his cult over her, I can’t even imagine. No wonder they’re a team. I will never understand how parents can behave like TC, it’s just insane to me that you’ll disown your own child like that. And it’s not like it has really hurt his career either. Absolutely crazy. I hope that when their kids are grown and they’re enjoying their golden years, either Katie or Nicole write a memoir, NDAs be damned.
It is SO crazy. It feels a little odd to get this sappy, rose colored update out of the blue, when we all know there are some deep, dark secrets that are hiding.
Just wait until Suri grows taller than Tom, in about two years, he will have to put four inch lifts in his shoes.
He hasn’t seen suri in nearly 7 years so I doubt that’s gonna change any time soon. He will never have to worry about her being taller than him.
I kind of doubt he will ever see her again, so no need to get the stiletto lifts out on her behalf.
Wait, but she’s 14? I don’t think I’ve grown taller since 14. Is that normal for girls to keep growing post-puberty? Am I a freak for still being my high school height?
I kept growing after 14 for sure.. Maybe till 16? And I started puberty about 11…
Maybe that’s not normal but yeah I definitely got taller.
I didn’t grow much after 12. But I had friends who grew an inch or so in college. I think people vary. Most girls finish growing as teens.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
She really looks like Tom in the last photo. I wonder, now, that’s she’s older, what she makes of her dad and his cult? Must be so strange and possibly heartbreaking for her to never see him.
And he is a major star. There are posters in NY of every movie he makes, she simply cannot avoid him. Must be truly sad for this poor kid.
I think Suri may think of her father on occasion but Katie has likely told her he’s into a crazy religion and that’s what he is totally focused on, not getting in touch with his daughter. Perhaps you don’t miss what you never really had. She has a great mom who is attentive and she’s accepted that. Another reason Tom severed contact, on top of the cult ones, was that he didn’t know what to do with Suri. He didn’t want, on his own, to have to amuse a kid. I remember when he came into town from overseas, and they stayed in a hotel room, used the pool, and there were photos where he looked totally bored, and that he wished he was back on the movie set, hanging out of an airplane.
In photos he always seemed very attentive to suri. But I’m sure that was probably all just an act given the way he’s abandoned her. I feel really sorry for suri. Yes she’s very privileged but your dad choosing not to see you when he has the means too must hurt like mad, especially like a user said below having to see posters of him everywhere
I think one’s feelings about a parent are so complicated, especially at that age, so I don’t think Tom is as much of a passing thought as we’d like him to be. I had a great relationship with my father for what it was, but he was largely absent. There was clearly a lot of love there, and I trusted and adored him, but I look at it now — with more experience and some therapy under my hat — and can see how my experience of it was one of loss and rejection peppered with love-bombing, and it was a significant trauma that affected the way I behave and my sense of self. My dad was the ultimate mystery to me, and I felt like if I could just crack the code, I could make him stay or want to have me be a real part of his life, and things would be perfect. I felt that way my whole life. Even with professional help, there are parts of me that still feel that way.
I think KH is doing the best she can, and her child seems well adjusted, but I hope they have a great family counselor who helps them work through some of the things that are difficult for a person (especially a kid person) to confront alone. And I really hope that Suri is given ways to explore clarity and find closure concerning her father on her own — I’ve always wondered if he “gave up” so easily when she was young because he thinks he’ll be able to manipulate her when she’s an adult.
Adrianna, I don’t think that Katie speaks ill of TC, I don’t think that she is that type of person but IDK her so I don’t know what she is telling her. Though I think early on that Suri figured it out for herself that her “dad” wasn’t interested in a relationship.
I just really hope the cult doesn’t get her when she’s older. I’m sure they will try.
They probably will try, but I suspect Suri is something of an expert on reasons to avoid Co$. It’s not like recruiting someone who is largely unfamiliar with them.
Was the US weekly article article written in the 1950s?!
Best comment. No shade from me, though, because every child deserves a loving parent who puts her before anyone or anything else. Katie seems like a devoted mom.
Too bad Suri doesn’t have a relationship with her siblings.
they’re $ci-bots too, though. so, IMO, no, it’s not really “too bad” at all.
Why? They’re crazy Scientologists too!
Yeah it’s a real shame that she isn’t tight with cult members.
I’m a single Mom with a daughter too and I think the most marked quality of my daughter is how protective and mature she is, particularly during this time. She’s pulling me thru this mess. I’m pretty sure when I was her age (12) I was a selfish brat. I have a lot of faith in her generation. Silver lining!
Wait what do you mean when you say your 12 year old is pulling you through? Do you mean being a good mom to her is what keeps you going? Or is your preteen emotionally supporting you?
I was a daughter who had to be a parent to my own mom, had to support her emotionally before I even understood life, when I was still a kid. It’s really hard and the long term results of having been parentified by my mom are not fun to live with. We don’t have a relationship now at all. She never saw me as a person or as a child she had to care for, she saw me as a tiny therapist and someone to take out her resentments on and someone to tell all her hateful thoughts to, and to blame when she was having a bad day or a hard time. All the while telling me “you are such a good listener, that’s so special, what would I do without you?” Yet I wasn’t allowed to have any needs and was only there to support a grown woman.
I hope you and Katie both take the lead, both make sure your daughters know that they are the child and you are the parent. Kids aren’t here to save adults. The line in this article about how Suri and katie take care of each other made me cringe.
Katie didn’t write that article so we would have no way of knowing what their true dynamic is.
I had a similar experience as the child “listener” to the adult’s woes and worries and echo your sentiments. Suri should not be taking care of Katie and hopefully she is not. It may sound sweet but it is destructive to the child. Hopefully Katie has her own therapist.
However, Katie may have actually done a good job with her daughter. Suri may be perfectly balanced with her parental relationship, enjoys close friendships with her peers, has her individual needs met on a regular basis and is therefore grounded and naturally compassionate to those around her — including her mother — through life’s ups and downs. That’s what I hope they’ve achieved.
Katie is still close to her parents and I imagine Suri sees the Holmes side of the family. I mean, Nicole Kidman doesn’t even see her own children with Tom so it’s pretty much the way he rolls when you are a suppressive. It’s better for Suri not to be influenced by the CoS.
@polyanna, Me too—“The line in this article about how Suri and katie take care of each other made me cringe.”
Kids need their parents to be the adults and take care of them, not be their best friend. When parents have an unfulfilled need and use their child to fulfill this need, it will create an unhealthy, codependent relationship.
At Pollyanna After I posted/worded this I knew I’d be in for Mommy shaming. When I say she’s pulling me thru I mean while my job is on hiatus I need a reason and purpose for getting out of bed and someone something to care for….you can dial down the indignation
I hope the term mommy shaming goes out with 2020… overused and its a victim mentality.
I hope that people realize that “mommy shaming” won’t go away until it stops happening. That you think it’s overly used makes me wonder if you’re one of moms acting holier than thou in their judgments and doing a lot of mommy shaming.
She’s definitely Tom’s kid, you can tell with her looks he is her bio father, but I’m glad for her that she’s got such a low key and supportive mother in Katie. She seems such a gentle person, hopefully Suri takes after mum.
As someone mentioned above, having a famous father who wants nothing to do with you, must hurt. Full props to Katie and her network for raising a happy, well rounded daughter.
Really? I can’t see the resemblance. I just remember all those photos of TC before he was famous and had his face and teeth fixed. Thankfully, Suri looks nothing like that.
She has Tom’s nose and eyes.
and his teeth before he got them fixed. I really think that is Tom’s kid. I also think when she turns 18 he is going to try and swoop in. Love bomb her and bend her mind to Scientology. This story is not over yet.
Katie and Tom both have dark hair and dark eyes and Suri has those, but that’s all I see. I think she’s Katie’s kid but Tom’s? Not so sure. There were a lot of rumors back in the day that Suri was born earlier (Jan) and not on April 18. That’s why we got those weird shots of Katie’s belly looking “off.”
The fact that Tom never sees her just adds to the mystery. Unless he plans to come swooping in when she turns 18, I think it’s odd he let his only bio child go so easily. Katie had some kind of bargaining chip.
I’m probably in the minority but I still think Tommy Davis is Suri’s father. Rumour has it that TC has a mild version of a genetic condition called holoprosencephaly, and carrying one or two of these genes can cause, amongst other things, badly misaligned teeth (he had fused incisors and only one centre tooth) and miscarriages in female partners. Remember when he bought an ultrasound machine and would only allow home scans during her pregnancy? Also, google pics of Tommy Davis and frankly I think Suri looks more like him than her supposed father. My tin foil hat theory is that TC somehow convinced Katie to have some assistance with a “turkey baster” and she found out that TC was not actually the sperm donor. After Suri was born TD basically disappeared off the Co$ radar, divorced his wife and eventually married an Egyptian actress in Morocco. It might also explain why TC has nothing to do with Suri too….anyway, food for thought.
@jaded, very interesting. Scientology is so kooky that anything is possible. L Ron Hubbard was a sci-fi writer who decided to make up a religion!
I read a little bit of Tommy Davis on his Wikipedia page and he sounds like a horrible human being, if you can call him human.
@jaded, OMG. I just googled Tommy Davis. Wowza.
I agree, Jaded.
It’s nice to see a celebrity’s kid who looks her age instead of like a sexed-up 24 year old! It’s great when parents let their kids be kids.
I really would love to hear Katie’s memoir someday.
She’s probably got an iron clan NDA so we’ll never get the dirt on her marriage and the Scientology shit.
Yes exactly @fluffybunny – I am sure that is how she was able to get the divorce from Tom. NDA including stipulations she never speak publicly about him and Scientology.
She will never write one that’s not her style we can only hope Suri tells us.
She looks so much like Tom. He has to miss her. And I bet she wonders about him as well. He needs to leave Scientology and reach out to his daughter.
I have an uncle who abandoned his son when he was 10 or 11 because his new wife didn’t like having a kid around. For years since, he has tried to blame their severed relationship on the child. It’s insane. The son, my cousin, is now in his 20s and only talks on the phone with his “dad” (I use that term loosely) a couple times a year. People sadly leave their children for far less crazy reasons than a cult. Some garbage people just stop wanting to be parents and seemingly don’t miss their children.
Exactly, you don’t have to be a movie star to abandon your kid(s). My dad forgot all about us when he remarried. It’s despicable and there is never a good reason. It happens all the time unfortunately.
(mis-posted, supposed to be under Guest w Cat below) I agree… The pictures of Katie in the last few months of her pregnancy were bonkers, totally fake looking, and then no pics of Suri for a long time post birth, and even then she looked older than she was supposed to be. I also think that’s at least in part why it made it easy for TC to walk away. I also always thought btw that the reason his relationship w Nicole Kidman ended was because she got pregnant, she then miscarried, but I remember him saying something like “she knows what she did…” Anyway, I’m sure it must be so hard not have a dad esp in this way, but maybe better in the long run for her emotional well being to have him not in the picture.
I remember there were photos of 8 month-preggers Katie ascending and descending bleachers at some kids’ soccer game with no caution or a helping hand and it immediately raised alarm bells as very odd. Then there were the reports of Tom’s security guards guarding the family garbage bins in LA for a while before Suri was born — aways thought it was so no one could rummage through and find all the newborn diapers they were using. Those were fun times in gossip land.
I forgot about the garbage, you’re right… and yes simpler, fun times in many ways…
I was in New York a couple years ago and Katie and Suri came into the boutique where I was shopping and I was struck by how normal that child is. She was eye rolling her mother, impatient with every article of clothing Katie picked out, and flounced away to sit on a chair and browse her phone while Katie kept shopping. Given the extraordinary circumstances around her, she seemed like any tween. She is also *gorgeous* and will be a stunner when she’s grown.
In some photos Suri reminds me of a young Rachel Weisz.
Does anyone have any hot tips for a modern feminist woman on what last name to give her kids?
I have always maintained that I wouldn’t change my last name on getting married. But the kids is another issue. They shouldn’t get his name by default as I hate that ‘tradition’. I am not overly attached to my own last name or anything, and his is actually quite clean and nice and goes with many other names so I actually wouldn’t mind it, if only it weren’t embedded in so much misogynist history. My last name is fine (not super uncommon or anything) but it starts with an M and cancels out a bunch of first names.
Our names don’t double barrell well. A new name all together? I dont know the answer.
SO is very supportive, pro-woman, pro-equality etc and doesn’t mind either way. We even joked about merging our two names but it’s a bit of a joke name as a result haha
Just pick one you like regardless of source. Let’s face it, if it’s a female thing, likely your last name came from your father, and your mother’s “maiden” name came from her father. There’s no escaping this.
Katie got starstruck and married a >insert descriptor of choice< but sure did her best to not only get her daughter out but give her a great, as-normal-as-possible life/childhood. Goes to one of the best schools, seems to have tons of friends, and the mum doesn't seem to pap walk her incessantly or do the overprotective thing either. Randomly, I remember those DM pics of her, her mum, and a few friends having a pink pajama birthday party last year – only difference between her and regular little girls is it was of them disembarking/exiting from airport as her mum could afford to fly the group to Paris for the bday weekend!
Shes’s 14 y.o already? Time flies. I still remembered that awkward pic of TC carrying her right after the divorce.