Lawsuit - I Never Abandoned Suri

[Purple Rain]

1. You've used and kindly shared here your definition of the word 'abandonment' above. Using your definition, no reasonable person could disagree with what you write immediately thereafter.

2. If you're asking me specifically re: Nicole Kidman v Bauer...I'm happy to answer. The magazines/newspapers/MSM/bloggers/etc did write that Ms. Kidman had abandoned those children -- and after a period of time passed, they chose the word 'estranged' instead.
My answer is exactly the same for TC & NK: In court, she'd have to prove defamation/false light to a legal standard; in the media, she'd have the right to fight such an allegation in a myriad of ways/methods. She chose not to go to court, but she has employed a number of different media-centric tactics that have worked to her own satisfaction. (Not mine, since I'd very much like her to confirm or deny whether the Co$ disconnection + 'fair game' policies were employed in her post-divorce situation.)
Tom Cruise chose to go to court...and his media-centric tactics may/may not yet meet his own expectations.

I've never addressed your personal situation/experience in any of the posts on this thread, nor will I.

I have sought to save folks a few steps of effort by providing internet-obtained generalized legal information, and am glad it helps to inform/educate, and nothing more.

JB

Well, what you do really does help immensely, and in this thread also. I'm really not going to comment further on the Tom Cruise case, but it will be interesting to watch it all play out. Nicole has successfully sued magazines before, and may well have again if they hadn't dropped the 'abandoned' tags. We'll never know. Anyhow, I will see you on the Leah thread, JB, and the rest of the board.

 

[Lulu Belle]

Tom Cruise's sister getting deposed

This is getting interesting. I guess Bauer figures if they have to pay 50 mil they might as well get their money's worth.



http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/11/tom-cruise-libel-lawsuit-bauer-scientology-sister-lee-ann-de-vette-deposition/



Tom Cruise’s Scientologist Sister To Be Deposed In Libel Lawsuit

(excerpt)

The sister of Hollywood megastar Tom Cruise will be forced to answer questions about her brother’s parenting and split from ex-wife Katie Holmes as part of the bitter libel lawsuit against two magazines, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.

Lee Ann De Vette, a Scientologist and key member of the 51-year-old’s entourage who once acted as his publicist, has been slapped with a subpoena by Bauer Media in a move to compel her to sit for the interrogation, multiple sources have confirmed.

 

[Panda Termint]

I just caught up on this thread. My thoughts...

I, generally speaking, don't like tabloid journalism.
I, specifically, don't like Tom Cruise.
I, generally speaking, do like Katie.
I, sometimes, find myself feeling concerned for Suri.
I'm kinda partisan about anything related to scientology.
My opinions are based on things I've seen and read for myself.
These things I've seen and read may be true or they may be false and misleading.
I probably shouldn't even be thinking about this stuff.

"Thank me for telling me that."

 

[Anonycat]

I just caught up on this thread. My thoughts...

I, generally speaking, don't like tabloid journalism.
I, specifically, don't like Tom Cruise.
I, generally speaking, do like Katie.
I, sometimes, find myself feeling concerned for Suri.
I'm kinda partisan about anything related to scientology.
My opinions are based on things I've seen and read for myself.
These things I've seen and read may be true or they may be false and misleading.
I probably shouldn't even be thinking about this stuff.

"Thank me for telling me that."

I feel one element at play, is that people don't like Tom Cruise. He's become something of an archetype, a bad guy. Matt Lauer, Brooke Shields, the crazy video, his pompous manner - and scientology seeming the same - make them the bad guys. People love the underdog and hate the villain. It is easy for a celebrity to get themselves categorized.

Comedian and Troll Andy Kaufman demonstrated how easy this is to do. For a while, he pretended to be a wrestler (of the kind known to be theatrical) and would only choose women to wrestle. He'd also insult them. One woman "opponent" said she was pregnant, which was a very effective troll. Some people believed it all! He was a comedian! Still, people were engaged by sizing him up. People have sized up Tom & scientology, too.

That's just me trying to get some people-watching value from this. Whenever scientology goes to court, it always ends up with massive backlash, and I think this one will be full of footbullets, until Tom pulls out of litigation.

 

[AnonKat]

feast on what is develloping in this thread right now

https://whyweprotest.net/community/...olmes-the-divorce.103450/page-87#post-2383544

 

[Sassy]

Yes, I know that and I appreciate it. I also really feel for him about being disconnected from his daughter. I just feel that when we're all in we all support the same institution and the same practices. We all promote it and serve it to the best of our sphere of influence. I don't really think we can blame anyone else for our own decisions - whether in regard to joining or what we choose to do while we're in there.

Cruise and the other celebrities have served to glamourise Scientology but they have also served to ridicule it. They have donated large sums of money, but generally speaking WAY less than the whales. If you are going to use that logic then the whales are guilty, present and past - including the South African ones who've just left - the celebrities are guilty, present and past - Larry Anderson, Jason Beghe, Nazanin Boniadi, Leah Remini - and the rank and file are guilty present and past - including ourselves.

One day Cruise will be out and like Leah Remini or any other ex, he'll be struggling to make sense of what happened to his world - his values, his gullibility, the personal and professional price he has paid for supporting it. Most of all losing Nicole, who was, I think, probably his greatest love.

What's most telling to me is that Cruise WAS there (allegedly) which means he supports his "church" right up to the present day. If he had any doubts about anything, seems he would have skipped this HUGE event. He's FIFTY-ONE years old; if & when he realizes "the price" he's paid, he could very well be SEVENTY-ONE. He's so deep in this that he can't see beyond a one foot perimeter around him.

He either never reads the 'net, listens to TV or radio, or he does and just doesn't care. Which is scarier???
His son Connor was out of the country, not sure about Isabella. If they're still in, I wonder why there are no reports of their attendance or whether they even went. Anyway. I'm sure there are many sheeple still "in" because hey, if Cruise is in, this must be something great, right??

 

[Purple Rain]

What's most telling to me is that Cruise WAS there (allegedly) which means he supports his "church" right up to the present day. If he had any doubts about anything, seems he would have skipped this HUGE event. He's FIFTY-ONE years old; if & when he realizes "the price" he's paid, he could very well be SEVENTY-ONE. He's so deep in this that he can't see beyond a one foot perimeter around him.

He either never reads the 'net, listens to TV or radio, or he does and just doesn't care. Which is scarier???
His son Connor was out of the country, not sure about Isabella. If they're still in, I wonder why there are no reports of their attendance or whether they even went. Anyway. I'm sure there are many sheeple still "in" because hey, if Cruise is in, this must be something great, right??

I don't know. I have many failings, but getting involved in a religion because of their celebrity adherents isn't one of them. I got into Scientology for a load of other stupid reasons, like wanting to save the world and fix myself up. I hope he's not 71 when he gets out, but who knows? Some people never get out. They still pay a price for being in there - and the longer they're in, the greater the price.

 

[Type4_PTS]

Breaking news from The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/judge-tosses-tom-cruises-nazi-argument-bauer-media-libel-case/

Judge Tosses Tom Cruise’s Nazi Argument in Bauer Media Libel Case

Magistrate also won’t force the publisher to reveal anonymous sources on its stories claiming Cruise “abandoned” daughter Suri

A federal judge tossed out Tom Cruise’s attempt to force Bauer Media to reveal its possible ties to Nazis on Tuesday, saying the connection to his libel suit against the multinational publisher of In Touch and Life & Style magazines is just too weak.
The judge also denied Team Cruise’s request to force Bauer Media to reveal the identity of its anonymous sources for stories it wrote claiming that Cruise had “abandoned” his daughter Suri following his divorce from Katie Holmes.

<snip>
Read Full Article: http://www.thewrap.com/judge-tosses-tom-cruises-nazi-argument-bauer-media-libel-case/

EDIT: The judge sided with Bauer in tossing out the Nazi angle, but suggested that Cruise’s lawyers can appeal her decision. Asked by TheWrap whether they’d mount such an appeal, Cruise lawyer Aaron Moss said, “I don’t know. We’ll have to talk about that.”

 

[JBWriter]

Re: Tom Cruise v Bauer Publishing - Stipulated Dismissal - December 20, 2013

It appears both sides have stipulated that the claims/counterclaims made in this legal dispute be dismissed.

Here's a link to The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. 'exclusive' article: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tom-cruise-drops-50-million-667313

Excerpts:

Tom Cruise has resolved a $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Media Group over a story in Life & Style that he had "abandoned" his 6-year-old daughter, Suri.
The parties stipulated to the dismissal of the lawsuit in a California federal court on Friday. Terms of any settlement weren't revealed beyond that each side will bear its own legal costs. The attorneys involved in the dispute weren't available immediately to comment.

With discovery winding down and summary judgment motions due, the two sides made final stabs to compel relevant information. In doing so, they opened up about what was happening in the case and included excerpts of Cruise's deposition. After Radar Online published some of it, the press spent weeks discussing whether the actor really said that acting was like fighting oversees, as well as other "bombshell" revelations.
Needless to say, in a fight against the press run amok, Cruise got more than he bargained for. Of late, there was speculation that Holmes would be testifying.
But all the drama now comes to an end with the parties having abandoned the litigation.

^^^^ Never let it be said the press doesn't have a sense of humor. Note the word "abandoned" in the final sentence.

It's interesting to note that all factual information was to have been submitted/exchanged between the parties on or before December 9, 2013.
Presumably, on that date, each side possessed all of the relevant facts generated by the opposition.
Eleven days later, dismissal is stipulated and announced to the press.

As there's no mention of an apology to come from Bauer Publishing, it's reasonable to think TeamCruise didn't have enough legal leverage to make an apology happen.

2nd EDIT: Per TMZ, Bauer Publishing did issue a statement. (See below.) Bauer doesn't apologize to Tom Cruise, Suri Cruise, or anyone individually or as a group -- and this statement makes clear they address only the public-at-large.
Short version: They didn't intend to mislead their readers and regret if a reader misunderstood.

"Bauer Publishing, 'In Touch' and 'Life and Style' 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."

JB

EDIT: For more about the stipulated dismissal, here's a new ESMB thread: http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthre...er-(Exclusive)&p=888698&viewfull=1#post888698

 

[Type4_PTS]

Here's a post at the Bunker as well:

Tom Cruise drops his disastrous suit against Bauer Media and its magazines
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today: Tom Cruise has finally given up on his dumb lawsuit against In Touch and Life & Style magazines.

He was seeking $50 million in damages because the magazines had claimed that Cruise had “abandoned” his daughter Suri after his 2012 divorce to Katie Holmes. But then, after a tough year of discovery, it turned out that the magazines had done their homework, and the facts showed that Cruise had only seen his daughter a handful of times over a 110-day period.

After that, any chance of convincing a jury that the magazines had lied about Cruise with malice were pretty much nil. So, no big surprise that he gave up the suit. It only brought him waves of additional media laughter based on some of the things he’d said in a deposition that was put into the court file.

So why did he even pursue this loser of a suit, wasting lots of money and only embarrassing himself further, when there was little chance of victory to begin with?

We asked Marty Rathbun, the former top Scientology official whose job, at one time, was to counsel Cruise. What was Tom thinking?
<snip>
Read Full Post: http://tonyortega.org/2013/12/20/to...nst-bauer-media-and-its-magazines/#more-12286