Tom Cruise tabloid lawsuit over daughter's 'abandonment' ordered to private mediation

In October, Tom Cruise filed a $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Publishing over a story featured in the company's Life & Style and In Touch magazines claiming the actor had abandoned his 6-year-old daughter Suri after his divorce from Katie Holmes. The allegations were fiercely denied by the Mission Impossible star.

After months of continuous disputes, papers were filed in U.S. Distric Court in Central California on Friday, ordering Cruise and Bauer to participate in a private mediation, The Wrap reported.

While the tabloids' publisher has stood strong behind their reporting, Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, says the actor "talks to [Suri] every day, sometimes many times a day."

"It's just the opposite of what they said in the magazine," Fields told E! News. "They are together all the time. He is a very caring father, and that is at the heart of this lawsuit."

According to The Wrap, which broke the story, if the parties don't settle privately a trial date has been set for April 29, 2014.