(Reuters) – Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were seeking ways to settle their divorce as the Hollywood stars entered the second week of a widely followed custody battle that has put their young daughter and the Church of Scientology in the media glare.
Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an unnamed source, reported that Holmes, 33, and Cruise, 50, are negotiating visitation, child support and a property settlement. People magazine made similar claims and said the estranged couple wishes to avoid airing marital issues in court.
Attorneys for Cruise and Holmes did not return requests for comment on Sunday, but Holmes was photographed a day earlier entering her attorney’s office in New York.
In a move that Cruise’s spokeswoman said left the “Mission: Impossible” star “deeply saddened,” Holmes filed divorce papers in New York in late June, ahead of last week’s U.S. Independence Day holiday, citing irreconcilable differences.
According to her attorneys, Holmes is seeking sole custody of their 6-year-old daughter, Suri, and much speculation has surfaced that Holmes wants to raise the young girl outside the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a key member.
Cruise flew back to Los Angeles from a film shoot in Iceland early last week, and since then has remained publicly quiet about the divorce. His attorney, Los Angeles-based Bert Fields, has said Cruise wants to remain private.
Cruise and Holmes married in 2006 and have been enthusiastically followed by celebrity watchers, who dubbed the pair “TomKat.” Holmes’ divorce filing shocked their fans because their marriage seemed to be on solid ground.
(Reporting By Andrea Burzynski; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Sandra Maler)