Rogers & Cowan go on Cruise control

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- With his popularity plummeting Tom Cruise has fired his sister Lee Anne De Vette as his publicist and hired the power firm of Rogers & Cowan.

A New York marketing firm's study concluded Cruise's popularity plunged in a matter of weeks from the 11th-most-liked celebrity among 13- to 49-year-olds to No. 197 -- on par with Pauly Shore and Tom Green, E! Online reported.

Cruise, 43, shocked the public with a manic appearance on "Oprah," in which he declared his love for his pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes; criticized women who use prescription drugs to fight postpartum depression and became a public advocate for Scientology, E! Online said.

At the same time, Cruise scored his biggest box-office hit in his career with "War of the Worlds" and his worst publicity ever, E! noted.

It was unclear who would be handling Holmes now that she recently dumped her longtime publicist in favor of De Vette, E! said. Cruise said his sister would perform other duties within his organization.