Actress Katie Holmes on Tuesday filed a $50 million lawsuit, accusing a celebrity magazine of libel for a cover story that falsely suggested she was a drug addict. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, is over a January edition of the magazine with the cover line, “Addiction Nightmare. Katie Drug Shocker!” The inside story claimed that Holmes, the wife of Tom Cruise, was “trapped in a cycle of addictive treatments”, but made no allegations of drug use.
Instead it talked of counseling sessions in the Church of Scientology, according to the lawsuit. Cruise is one of Hollywood’s leading Scientology followers. “The magazine’s malicious claims about Katie are untrue, unethical and unlawful. Not only do they cruelly defame Katie, they play a cheap trick on the public, making ridiculously false claims on the cover unsupported by anything inside,” attorney Bert Fields said in a statement.
Holmes, 32, is seeking $50 million in damages. A spokeswoman from the magazine said on Tuesday that the company would “vigorously defend” the lawsuit and that its attorneys “look forward to deposing Ms. Holmes about her experiences with Scientology.” Holmes’s five-year marriage to Cruise has been a frequent source of speculation in the celebrity media. The actress said in a statement on Tuesday that “of all the fabricated stories that continue to be published about me, this instance is beyond the pale. The publisher knew this outrageous story was false and printed it anyway to sell magazines.”
