Tom Cruise Threatens To Sue National Enquirer

Tom Cruise's lawyer has threatened the parent company of the National Enquirer, American Media Inc, with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit after it published a cover story he claims is "riddled with lies".

The publication's article divulged information regarding Cruise's divorce from wife of five years Katie Holmes, which paints the scientology actor in an unsavoury light.

Cruise's Los Angeles lawyer Bert Fields subsequently filed a letter to the magazine company in which he blasts American Media Inc for what he calls "false and vicious lies" that will cause "hundreds of millions of dollars" in damages to Cruise.

The three-paged letter begins: "As you were notified in advance, your current issue of National Enquirer makes numerous false and defamatory assertions about our client Tom Cruise."

The letter targets the abusive descriptions of Cruise in the Enquirer's July 11 issue, with Mr Fields adding: "These are all lies - vicious, hurtful, damaging lies."

Mr Fields has demanded the statements be retracted if the media company wishes to avoid a lawsuit.

Ms Holmes filed a malicious claim lawsuit of \$50m (32m) against another of the corporation's publications - Star magazine - in 2011.

The couple have dominated headlines worldwide since Holmes filed for divorce from the Mission: Impossible movie star two weeks ago, seeking sole custody of their six-year-old daughter, Suri.

Earlier this week, the couple agreed to a divorce and custody arrangement, but details were undisclosed.

Both have remained publicly silent about the issue, except for one joint statement in which they said they were working together to settle their differences in the best interest of Suri.

Speculation about a reason for the split has centered on Cruise's membership in the Church of Scientology.