Tom Cruise Camp Said Katie Holmes' Design Partner Leaked Suri Drama to the Media, Claimed Holmes' Rep Arranged Paparazzi Shots

Holmes' publicist reportedly denied the claim, which was leveled in emails filed as evidence in court in Cruise's ongoing lawsuit against tabloid publisher Bauer Media

By Natalie Finn Nov 08, 2013 11:45 PMTags
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Talk about your behind-the-scenes action.

In emails that were included along with hundreds of pages of court documents filed as part of Tom Cruise's ongoing defamation lawsuit against published Bauer Media, one of the actor's reps accuses Katie Holmes' publicist of arranging paparazzi run-ins for her client so that her closeness with daughter Suri would be well-documented.

Cruise rep Amanda Lundberg also charges in an email that Holmes' design partner Jeanne Yang was the one dishing details to the media about a trip to Disney World that Cruise took with Suri that led to headlines like "Forgetting Mommy Already?"

"We do not call the paparazzi on any client," Holmes rep Leslie Sloane said in response to Lundberg's assertion, according to Hollyscoop. (Sloane and Lundberg have not responded to additional requests from E! for comment.)

The emails between Lundberg and Cruise attorney Aaron Moss are part of a filing made public this week and obtained by E! News that also contains a 36-page transcript of a deposition Cruise gave Sept. 9 in which he defended himself against stories ran by Bauer publications In Touch and Life & Style that charged him with "abandoning" Suri after his split from Holmes.

Quizzed by Bauer's counsel about the role Scientology played in his and Holmes' divorce, Cruise admitted that his ex-wife's camp cited his religion and its possible effect on their daughter as a reason that she wanted out of their marriage.

"There is no need to protect my daughter from my religion," Cruise said, per the deposition transcript.

The email exchange in question kicked off Aug. 6, 2012, when Cruise attorney Aaron Moss alerted Lundberg that he had been contacted by In Touch's Rachel Biermann as a heads-up that they were planning to report that Cruise had taken Suri to Disney World "and has been lavishing her with gifts, etc. in the hopes of one day possibly living with her."

Moss wrote in his message that he believed that Biermann was willing to publish "a more flattering story" if they provided some additional scoop.

He suggested a statement that included "Tom is not trying to 'outdo' anyone," to which Lundberg replied that she didn't "trust Rachel at all" because she had given her "info in the past to no avail. I gave her info for the story that then went wtih the headline 'katie escapes T.'"

"I don't agree that statements that say nice things from my mouth in stories that say false things paints t in a more flattering light—what it does it give the story merit. As we are caring enough about it," Lundberg wrote.

On Aug. 8, apparently after the story had been published, Lundberg wrote to Moss: "And in true scum form...The in touch cover line is 'forgetting mommy already?' Which will only cause jeanne yang to keep lying and speaking and keeping these stories going each week."

The email chain continued with Moss asking how she knew that Yang was the leak and for a copy of the story in question and the other latest tabloids.

"A very good friend/editor slipped and said her name to me on Monday. And two good sources told me it is all her," Lundberg replied. "And that leslee sloan calls the paparazzi every time k gets ready to leave the building as the doormen are always surprised how they suddenly show up when she is about to leave."

Moss wrote: "Do you know if she said anything that would violate her Confidentiality Agreement? I haven't seen it, but I understand that she is under one."

"I'm positive she had," Lundberg replied. "She likely told the press that [Tom and Suri] stayed at Cinderella's castle as no one really knew. And every single person tells me she is speaking to the press constantly. She is the one saying—K is disciplinarian and T is spoiling and so on."

Cruise was spotted in Los Angeles earlier this week and Suri is currently in South Africa with Holmes, where the actress is shooting The Giver with Meryl Streep.