- Tom, 60, attended the Oscars luncheon in February where he was told my Steven Spielberg he had ‘saved Hollywood’s a**’
- The action star was absent from Sunday’s Oscars, despite his recent film Top Gun: Maverick being nominated for five awards
- Nicole did NOT attend last month’s lunch Cruise was at but looked stunning alongside hubby Keith Urban yesterday
Tom Cruise skipped the Oscars on Sunday to ‘avoid an awkward encounter’ with Nicole Kidman, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.
Insiders said the Top Gun: Maverick star was not at the ceremony due to his ex-wife being in attendance – after their bitter divorce more than 20 years ago.
Cruise and Kidman separated in 2001, reportedly over his refusal to join him in the Church of Scientology.
But sources close to Cruise have revealed he was unable to attend due to a conflicting schedule while filming Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning 2 in Britain.
They dismissed the idea that Cruise was not present due to Kidman’s attendance, or that he was absent because he was not personally nominated.
“Tom’s absence from the Oscars wasn’t something personal and, despite what is being said there, he didn’t skip the show because he wasn’t nominated,” the confidant said. by Cruise.
“He’s in the UK filming Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning 2. Tom was very happy that Maverick got such recognition, and he’s very proud of the film as well.”
“He actually watched the awards last night. Tom worked very hard on the film and supported in every way possible, work permitting.
Regarding why he attended the Feb. 13 luncheon that Kidman was not at, the source added, “He was at the Oscars luncheon because his schedule allowed it at the time.”
At lunch a month ago, legendary director Steven Spielberg told 60-year-old action star Cruise that Maverick had “saved Hollywood’s a**” by bringing audiences back to theaters.
“And, you may have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously. Maverick might have saved the whole theater industry,’ Spielberg, 76, told his longtime friend in a now-viral video shared by Oscar nominee Kartiki Gonsalves.
It’s no coincidence, however, that Kidman, 55 – who walked the Oscars red carpet with her husband, country crooner Keith Urban, 55, before packing a serious PDA during the show – didn’t did not attend the lunch attended by his ex-Scientologist.
In fact, Kidman also hasn’t spoken to the two children she and Cruise adopted — Isabella, 30, and Conner, 28 — in years.
Both Isabella and Conner are devoted members of the Church of Scientology like their father.
Kidman was shunned by the church and labeled SP, which stands for Suppressive Person. As a result, she was cut off from her family.
Kidman met Cruise in 1990 when the two were cast together in Days of Thunder, a motor racing film.
She was 23 at the time and, coming from Australia, was an unknown in Hollywood. Everything changed when the stars sparked a real romance during filming.
After 12 years of marriage, Cruise left his wife in 2001, leaving her in “total shock.” He filed for divorce the same year, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
According to countless reports, the real reason he left her was due to his refusal to join the Church of Scientology.
In 2012, Kidman opened up about his painful breakup with Cruise in an interview with DuJour Magazine.
“I thought our life together was perfect. It took me a very long time to heal. It was a shock to my system,” she said.
“We were in a bubble, just the two of us. We have become very dependent on each other. I was in shock with Tom,’ she told the outlet. “I would have gone to the end of the world for him… I was completely smitten – I fell madly, passionately in love.”
Looking back, she told the outlet that she was “naive” to think Cruise was happily ever after. She also said she was “happier” than she had ever been.
“I live in a friend’s house in Nice. My two daughters are with me, Sunday Rose, who is four, and Faith Margaret, who is two,” Kidman said.
Kidman and Cruise haven’t had any interaction in over a decade.
In a 2015 interview with Australian magazine Who, Kidman broke her silence on her relationship with the two children.
‘They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions,” Kidman said, adding, “They made the choice to be Scientologists and as a mother, it’s my job to love them. “
That same year, Kidman also opened up about her divorce from Cruise during a speech at the Women World Summit in New York.
“I was running from my life at that time. I wasn’t able to handle the reality of my life,” she told the audience.
At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022, Cruise was celebrated with a 10-minute montage that included highlights from his entire career, which spanned four decades.
The edit left out Kidman, who made three films with her ex-husband during their marriage.
She took the high road and said nothing about being snubbed from Cruise’s climax reel.
In 2006 Cruise married actress Katie Holmes. The two have a daughter together, Suri, who is now 16 and lives with her mother in New York.
They divorced in 2012 and it is alleged that his ties to Scientology caused the breakdown of their marriage.
Suri has no relationship with her father, nor does Holmes, 44, who was granted full custody in their divorce.
According to their agreement, Cruise would have had to pay Holmes $400,000 in child support and $33,000 a month in child support until Suri turned 18.
Although Cruise was not present at the 2023 Oscars, producer Jerry Bruckheimer had to accept the award if Maverick won Best Picture.
The movie starring Cruise was nominated for Best Picture Starring Elvis, Avatar: The Way of Water, All Quiet on The Western Front and The Fabelmans. Everything, everywhere, all at once won in the category.
Cruise was not nominated for his performance in the film. Austin Butler was nominated for his role in Elvis, as well as Bill Nighy for Living. Brendan Fraser won for his incredible performance in the movie Whale.
Maverick was also nominated for Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects and Music (Original Song). The only award the film won was for sound.
Kidman was nominated for five Oscars in the Best Actress category and in 2002 won the coveted gold trophy for her incredible portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours.