Tom Cruise sues Life & Style for $50M

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NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Tom Cruise's lawyer says the Hollywood actor is suing the publisher of Life & Style magazine for $50 million for a story claiming Cruise abandoned his daughter.

Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes divorced this year. They are the parents of a 6-year-old girl, Suri. Holmes has primary custody of Suri and lives with her in New York.

Attorney Bert Fields said Cruise's lawsuit against the magazine was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. It seeks damages from the publication for "claiming falsely that he has 'abandoned' Suri, his 6-year-old daughter."

"Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri," Fields said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

"She's a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible," Fields said. "Tom doesn't go around suing people. He's not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he's going to sue. ... These serial defamers are foreign-owned companies with their global headquarters in Hamburg. They take money from unsuspecting Americans by selling their malicious garbage. Having to pay a libel judgment may slow them down. Tom will undoubtedly give the money to charity. He always has."