Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography pdfdrive com

Interview with the Vampire, journalists had the perfect excuse to put the
spotlight on Tom’s private life. During publicity for the film, he dismissed the
gay talk as “hard-line cynicism,” telling writer Kevin Sessums in October 1994,
“It’s not true, but people are going to say what they want to say. . . . I don’t care
if people are Martians. I really don’t care. Straight. Gay. Bisexual. Catholic.
Jewish.” The rumor mill kept churning even after Nicole rallied to his defense,
telling Vanity Fair, “I’ll bet all the money I’ve ever made, plus his, that he
doesn’t have a mistress, that he doesn’t have a gay lover, that he doesn’t have a
gay life.”
In 1995, when McCall’s magazine published an article suggesting that Tom
and Nicole’s marriage was a sham and that Nicole only had a Hollywood career
in exchange for hiding Tom’s gay lifestyle, the couple decided to act, Tom
instructing his lawyer Bertram Fields to file suit. While many actors ignore the
gossip, seeing it as part and parcel of life in Hollywood, Tom was much more
sensitive, especially as both he and Nicole knew the medical reasons behind
their decision to adopt two children. While McCall’s printed a retraction and
apology, his lawyer was to spend many more years damping down flames of
gossip that flared up all over the world. When the German magazine Bunte
claimed in 1996 that Tom was gay and sterile with a “zero sperm count,” Tom
instructed Fields to slap the journal with an $80 million libel suit. “The actor’s
career depends on his fans’ willingness to believe that he does or could possibly
possess the qualities of the character he plays,” said Fields. In other words, no
woman would go weak at the knees at the sight of Tom if they thought he was
gay or impotent. If the rumors persisted, his image as a clean-cut American sex
symbol could be compromised. The magazine duly caved.
The acid test came during the filming of Eyes Wide Shut. In October 1997,
just a few weeks after the couple had attended the funeral of Diana, Princess of
Wales, the Sunday Express newspaper published a story claiming that Tom and
Nicole’s marriage was a business-driven partnership of “convenience” designed
to hide their homosexuality. The article also implied that the reason Tom and
Nicole had adopted their children was because Tom was sterile and impotent. In
keeping with previous policy, Tom decided to sue for libel, telling friends,
somewhat oddly, that the story exposed his children, then ages two and four, to
ridicule. For once the newspaper called his bluff and announced that it was
prepared to defend the action. That meant that if Tom should decide to go ahead,
he would have to appear in the witness box at the High Court in London and face
hostile questioning about his marriage, his sex life, and his previous sexual

---

partners.
He hired the best lawyer in Britain, the flamboyant George Carman, famous
for defending, among others, Elton John, politician Jeremy Thorpe, comedian
Ken Dodd, and cricketer Imran Khan. When the couple was ushered into his
chambers, Carman was immediately struck by how nervous these Hollywood A-
listers were at the prospect of going to court.
For all his bluster, Tom was particularly anxious about the prospect of facing
a rigorous cross-examination. Few would blame him. In the sober quiet of his
book-lined office, the silver-haired barrister walked Tom and Nicole through the
financial and personal costs of appearing in court. In Britain, while the courts
tend to favor celebrity plaintiffs, libel cases are notoriously unpredictable and
ruinously expensive. Winners often end up losers, their reputations in tatters.
Litigants who lie in court for the sake of protecting their good name can end up
in jail, like novelist Jeffrey Archer and former Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken.
During their conversation Carman ran through the allegations about the
couple, asking them individually if they were prepared to repudiate the
newspaper’s claims under oath. Carman’s son Dominic, who wrote his father’s
life story, recalls: “My father formally asked Tom Cruise if he was gay. He
categorically denied it. However, he warned him that he would have a rough
time in court and asked him point-blank if there were any relationships that he
may have forgotten about that the other side might bring up.” Again Tom denied
that he had any skeletons in his closet that could embarrass him. Carman was
impressed. “George felt Tom would make an excellent witness as he was highly
cooperative and had a certain charm without seeming arrogant,” remembers
Dominic. “George was more than satisfied with his honesty.”
Certainly Tom’s replies would have come as no surprise to the women in his
life—past and present. Not only had Nicole and Mimi publicly testified to his
virile heterosexuality, but his earlier lovers were equally perplexed by the
constant whispers about his sexual preferences. High-school girlfriends Nancy
Armel, whom he’d wanted to marry, and Diane Van Zoeren both found Tom a
regular red-blooded teenager. As Diane, who dated him from high school until
he made the movie Taps, recalled, “I don’t get it. I find these stories just hard to
believe. We romanced in my dad’s Oldsmobile doing what you are not supposed
to.”
If anything, Tom was uncomfortable around gay men. Those who saw him in
the company of some of Nicole’s gay friends, who included designer John
Galliano, noticed that he was awkward and ill at ease, much preferring the
company of jocks who talked about football rather than fashion. His discomfort
was understandable, given Scientology’s view of the gay community. In

---