Oak-Thorton/INFphoto.comTom Cruise isn't keeping his eyes wide shut over this.
The Mission: Impossible star is suing Life & Style and In Touch Weekly magazines for defamation over stories the magazines published claiming that Cruise abandoned his and Katie Holmes' 6-year-old daughter, Suri.
He is seeking $50 million in damages.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in a California federal court and obtained by E! News, Cruise cites two cover stories—one published by Life & Style on July 30 and another published by In Touch Weekly on Oct. 1—featuring headlines suggesting that he "abandoned" his daughter.
He accuses the tabs of "exploiting a defenseless 6-year-old child on its cover" and ignoring attempts by his camp to "correct these fabrications."
In a statement released Wednesday, Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, said: "Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She's a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible."
Over the last few months, the 50-year-old star has been forced to spend less time with Suri—a move that his camp chalked up to the actor's busy schedule while shooting his new film All You Need Is Kill in London.
"He calls Suri every day, sometimes twice a day," Fields told E! News last month. "He loves Suri and is a constant presence in her life. As in the past, when he¹s shooting in a foreign country, he has to rely on daily phone calls."
A representative for the magazines' publisher, Bauer Publishing Group, had no comment.