Inside Tom Cruise And Suri Cruise's Years-Long Estrangement, They Were Last Seen Together In 2012
Tom Cruise and daughter Suri Cruise have not been seen together since 2012. Here's a look at their years-long estrangement and why Suri has legally changed her name to Suri Noelle.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleSuri Cruise has officially severed ties with her globally famous father, Tom Cruise. The 20-year-old has legally dropped 'Cruise' from her name, as per the latest reports by Page Six. Now known as Suri Noelle, the Carnegie Mellon University student has reportedly ended all legal connections with the Mission: Impossible star.
The news has sparked renewed attention to a long-estranged father-daughter relationship that has remained distant for more than a decade. While neither Tom nor Suri has publicly addressed the name change, their last-known photograph together dates back to 2012.
Tom Cruise publicly denied abandoning his daughter after his split from Katie Holmes
The 64-year-old actor has had several high-profile relationships, but one of his most famous marriages was with actress Katie Holmes. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes welcomed Suri in April 2006 before marrying later that year in a lavish ceremony in Italy. During Suri's early childhood, Cruise frequently spoke about the joy of fatherhood, and the pair were regularly photographed together on family outings.
However, everything changed after Holmes filed for divorce in June 2012. The split was finalized within weeks, with Holmes receiving primary custody of then-six-year-old Suri. The last public photographs of Tom and Suri together date back to August 2012, when the actor took his daughter to a Disney water park in Florida. Since then, they have not been seen together publicly.
As speculation surrounding their relationship intensified after the divorce, Cruise addressed the issue during a 2013 deposition in connection with his defamation lawsuit against Bauer Publishing. The actor strongly rejected claims that he had abandoned his daughter. During the same legal proceedings, Cruise also confirmed that Suri was no longer practicing Scientology after the divorce.
"I didn't cut Suri out of my life—whether physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise," Cruise said during the deposition. He acknowledged that work commitments had limited the amount of time he spent with her but insisted that his feelings had never changed. "Certainly what doesn't change is the love that I have for my daughter," he said.
Over the years, multiple reports have suggested that Tom and Suri have had little to no contact, although neither has publicly discussed the current state of their relationship. In a 2019 interview with HollywoodLife, sources claimed that the Top Gun: Maverick star "still loves" Suri and "never intended to be estranged from his daughter when he decided to have a family with Katie and looks forward to repairing the relationship one day."
The rift between father and daughter became especially clear in June 2024, when Suri graduated from New York City’s elite LaGuardia High School. In the graduation program, she used the name Suri Noelle rather than her last name, Cruise, which sparked questions about her relationship with Tom Cruise.
What was Tom and Suri Cruise's relationship like before the divorce?
Before his and Katie Holmes' high-profile split in 2012, Tom Cruise was a constant presence in Suri's life. Not only were they often seen in public, but the duo even made it to the cover of Vanity Fair in 2006. Tom, who had always dreamt of becoming a father, told the magazine at that time, "My whole life I always wanted to be a father."
Over the years, Suri was often seen by her father's side, whether accompanying the couple in film shoots or visiting places. Cruise had hoped that Suri would grow up closely with her siblings, Connor and Isabella, whom the actor had adopted from his marriage to Nicole Kidman. He had said at that time:
"I always said to myself that my children would be able to depend on me and I would always be there for them and love them—that I’d never make a promise to my kids that I couldn’t keep."
However, following his divorce from Holmes, his relationship with Suri gradually faded from public view. Tom has acknowledged that work commitments had limited the amount of time he spent with her but insisted that his feelings had never changed.
Since the divorce, Suri has largely been raised by her mother in New York, and the duo shares a loving bond. And now, after over a decade of a fractured relationship, Suri has officially cut ties with her father. According to public records, Suri registered to vote in Pennsylvania, where she attends Carnegie Mellon University, using the legal name Suri Noelle.
The 20-year-old is currently studying musical theater and has already appeared in stage productions, including Cosmic Microwave Background and Midsummer!, which is scheduled to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Whether Tom Cruise and Suri will ever reconcile remains unknown.
Image credit: X photos
Read Next: Inside Eric Roberts' 'Complicated' Relationship With Daughter Emma, 'I Take Full Responsibility'
