UPDATE: Tom Cruise‘s lawyer Bert Fields has sent a statement to TheWrap indicating that the actor’s defamation lawsuit has been settled with Bauer Publishing and two of its magazines, In Touch and Life & Style. His statement:
“Tom Cruise‘s lawsuit against Bauer Publishing, In Touch and Life & Style magazines has been settled. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed and remain confidential. Bauer Publishing, as well as In Touch and Life & Style magazines, never intended to communicate that Tom Cruise had cut off all ties and abandoned his daughter, Suri, and regret if anyone drew that inference from anything they published.”
PREVIOUSLY:
Tom Cruise‘s $50 million lawsuit against “In Touch” and “Life & Style” publisher Bauer Media has been settled, according to court papers obtained by TheWrap.
Cruise brought the defamation suit last October, saying that the magazines had falsely claimed that Cruise had abandoned his daughter, Suri, following his split with wife Katie Holmes. At the time, the actor’s attorney, Bert Fields, called the tabloids’ reports “a disgusting, vicious lie” and painted Bauer as “serial liars.”
Also read: Tom Cruise vs Bauer Media: Editors Worried About Getting Sued, Emails Reveal
At one phase of the case, Bauer’s legal team brought up the subject of Cruise’s status as a Scientologist, saying that discovery would be necessary for the “role, if any, that Plaintiff’s membership in the Church of Scientology played in his decisions regarding his visitation and communications with Suri Cruise after his separation and divorce.”
Cruise’s side, in turn, said that it would examine “Bauer’s policies and practices with respect to publishing stories about Tom Cruise, Suri Cruise and Scientology or other minority religious groups.”
Also read: Tom Cruise Asks Court to Force Bauer Publications to Admit Nazi Sympathies
A stipulation filed in U.S. district court in central California noted that the case had been dismissed with prejudice, with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs and attorney’s fees.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.