How 'overprotective' Katie Holmes saved her daughter from Scientology: Suri, 17, blossoms into a 'smart and independent' teen after actress broke free of controversial religion - while Tom Cruise has 'no part' in her life

The daughter of A-listers, 17, has lived in New York with her mother for yearsREAD MORE: Katie Holmes, 45, and daughter Suri Cruise, 17, look like sisters as they flash matching smiles and denim looks while out for stroll in New York City 

Strolling through New York with her mother, both dressed casually in denim and boots, smiling Suri Cruise looked like any other fresh-faced teenager enjoying quality time with her mother Katie Holmes.

Despited her daughter being featured singing on the soundtracks of some of her  films, ‘overprotective’ Katie has shielded her only child from the limelight to enjoy a relatively normal upbringing.

But it could have all been a very different picture if Katie’s seven-year marriage to Tom Cruise had stood the test of time.

The couple were married for six years after tying the knot in a Scientologist ceremony in Italy in 2006. However, as the marriage went on, sources close to Katie suggested she felt increasingly intimidated by the church, in which Tom remains a powerful figure today.

Now, neither mother nor daughter are said to have contact with Tom Cruise, and a source revealed last year that the Top Gun star has ‘no part’ in his daughter’s life.

Katie Holmes, 45, and Suri Cruise, 17, have lived together in New York City since Holmes split from Tom Cruise in 2012 (pictured this weekend)

Following the split from Cruise, Katie Holmes was granted full custody of their daughter, with Suri’s father having frequent and ‘meaningful’ visitation rights

Suri’s focus is on preparing for higher education and she’s said to be thinking of pursuing a career in fashion.

A source told Dailymail.com: ‘Suri is applying to schools all over the place. [Katie] really does want her to stay in New York so they can be close to each other.

‘Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective.’

The insider added Katie was ‘overwhelmed’ by the idea of her daughter going to college and Suri is said to be ‘leaning towards’ fashion school.

Although Cruise pays approximately $400,000 in child support to Holmes for Suri, he is said to have ‘no part’ in his daughter’s life

They revealed that Tom does ‘not have a part in [Suri’s] life’ – after it was previously revealed that the pair have not seen each other in years.

When the couple split in 2012, it was reported that Katie had chosen to end the couple’s marriage over fears about raising her daughter as a Scientologist – a religion that Tom is incredibly dedicated to.

Her decision to quit the religion, as well as the marriage, caused a major rift between the former spouses, which has seen Tom and Suri’s relationship become increasingly distant over the years.

MailOnline revealed in 2016 that Katie feared she would lose Suri to Scientology, after seeing how Tom’s first wife Nicole Kidman became distanced from the children she adopted with him, Bella and Connor, when they remained within the church after she left.

It was reported that Katie’s final straw came when members of the Church of Scientology moved into the couple’s home.

Ron Miscavige, the father of Scientology leader David, who himself renounced the religion, told DailyMail.com that there is a ‘toxic’ policy of ‘disconnection’ operating within the church – which is something Katie feared would be implemented to keep her away from her daughter.

Speaking to the website in 2016, five years before he passed away, Ron (who was estranged from David) explained that the disconnection policy sees Scientologists cut off contact with any family member who leaves the church. It happened to Ron, not only with son David, but also with his two daughters, Denise and Lori. 

He claimed members of the church’s staff, known as Sea Org, moved in with Cruise and Holmes, to make sure the organization’s most valuable celebrity was being properly taken care of.

‘That didn’t sit so well with Katie, of course, and it hurt the marriage,’ he said. ‘She and Tom had big differences about the way life should be lived.’

The couple had married in a lavish Scientology ceremony in Italy in 2006, and Katie officially entered the church

Katie Holmes’s father Martin, a divorce attorney, was reported to have ‘orchestrated’ the split between his daughter and Tom Cruise

‘The big issue really was raising Suri as a Scientologist,’ Ron said. ‘If that happened, some day it was a possibility that she would disconnect from Katie.

‘Ultimately this is what has happened to me.’

It was reported that, once Katie had filed for divorce, she turned to her father who is a divorce attorney for advice.

People magazine reported Martin Holmes ‘helped orchestrate his daughter’s sudden split’ from the Hollywood actor.

‘Marty is very rigid – it’s his way or the highway,’ a Toledo attorney who has worked with Martin told the magazine.

‘Marty believes there are only two sets of rules: the rules of the court and his rules, and he carries himself that way.’

Divorce documents at the time revealed that Katie Holmes would receive $400,000 every year from multi-millionaire Tom in the way of child support until Suri turns 18.

The Hollywood actor would also pay for Suri’s medical and dental expenses as well as her insurance, education costs and college tuition. The money is reportedly paid by electronic transfer.

Regarding Suri’s education, the couple agreed their daughter would not attend boarding school – which quashed rumours she would attend a Scientology-led institution.

Katie was granted sole custody of their daughter while Tom was allowed ‘meaningful’ visitation rights.

However, Tom has not been seen out in public with his daughter for around a decade, and sources have claimed he now has little involvement in her life.

The last photo of the Top Gun actor out and about with his daughter was a trip to Disneyland in 2012, the year his divorce from Katie was finalised.

That same year, the Hollywood titan was reported not to have seen his daughter for more than 100 days, between a holiday they took in August and Thanksgiving in November.

Katie has previously revealed how her daughter Suri comments on her outfits and has a ‘great eye’ when it comes to fashion

Suri Cruise lived a relatively private childhood following her parents’ divorce, however she made an appearance with Holmes at the Jingle Ball in 2017

After In Touch magazine reported that Cruise had ‘abandoned’ his daughter, he sued the publication for libel in a $50 million lawsuit. As the case played out in court, he acknowledged he had gone around three months without seeing Suri, but added that it was due to factors out of his control.

Instead, he explained he had been working to a tight and intense filming schedule on his action movie All You Need is Kill in London, which left little room for free time of any kind.

‘Unfortunately in this situation it was impossible,’ he told the court, according to People.

He added that, far from abandoning his daughter, he called her every day – although he conceded it was not the same as seeing his young daughter in person and that speaking to a child on the phone can be difficult.

He said: ‘You have to work at it. I’ve gotten very good at it. I tell wonderful stories.’

As Suri reaches adolescence and begins a new stage of her life, another source close to Katie told Dailymail.com: ‘Being raised by a single mom in New York has made Suri who she is. Katie has always put Suri first and Suri loves her mom more than anything.

Tom Cruise has not been pictured in public with his daughter Suri for more than a decade (pictured with Holmes and Suri in 2011, a year before Holmes filed for divorce)

Suri (pictured as a toddler) is reported to have little to do with her father Tom Cruise following his split from her mother

‘She is a smart girl, and she is turning into a very intelligent mature woman. She has a very close group of loyal friends, and she knows exactly where she comes from.’

Throughout her childhood Katie did her best to keep Suri out of the limelight as much as possible. However, since the teenager turned 16, the actress has begun to reveal a little more about her daughter’s life.

In 2021, a trailer for a rom-com starring and directed by Holmes, Alone Together, featured Suri singing Blue Moon on the soundtrack, as her mother praised her daughter as ‘the best’.

Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment about her decision to cast her daughter as the singer of the cover, Holmes was full of praise for Suri.

She said: ‘I always want the highest level of talent. So I asked her! She’s very, very talented. She said she would do it and she recorded it, and I let her do her thing.’

Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman pictured in 1996 in Sydney, Australia with their son Connor and daughter Bella

In the same interview, Holmes revealed she had also enlisted Suri to sing in another film she had directed, Rare Objects.

Despite two very impressive credits to her name and being the daughter of two of Hollywood’s biggest names, Holmes insisted Suri remained, for the most part, ‘a 16-year-old kid doing high school’.

Aside from a potential singing career (with a little help from her mother), Suri is thought to be something of a fashionista who inspires her mother, with Holmes recently revealing she sometimes pinches accessories from her daughter.

Back in 2011 when Suri was just four years old, Katie Holmes told Elle that her daughter would often pass comment on her clothes.

She revealed: ‘Today I’m wearing brown suede pants, and she said, “I don’t like your pants”. But then she’ll say, “You’ve got to wear these shoes” or “That’s so pretty, Mom. Wear that”. She’s got a great eye.’

During an interview with InStyle in 2020, Holmes sat down to chat while wearing her then 14-year-old daughter’s purple hair scrunchie.

She revealed that, by then, Suri had surpassed the ‘girlie stage’ of her life and was becoming her own person.

Gushing with affection for her daughter, Holmes said she had raised Suri to be independent and hard working.

‘She came out very strong — she’s always been a strong personality. She’ll pick an activity and work her butt off until she’s really good at it,’ Holmes described.

‘Then she’s like, “OK, I’m going to try the next thing”. She’s very focused and a hard worker.’

As for Holmes herself, the actress who made her debut as the coy-yet-boisterous Joey in Dawson’s Creek has honed her artistic flair in recent years, taking on directing projects including a lockdown romance film on which Suri sang.

Katie was inspired to write Alone Together after seeing the legend in the 1987 film Baby Boom.

Since her split with Tom, Katie had a private relationship with Jamie Foxx for several years from 2013 until 2019, with the couple only revealing their romance to the public shortly before the split.

She also dated chef Emilio Vitolo and Bobby Wooten III.