Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes settled their divorce on Monday, taking less than two weeks to end a nearly six-year marriage that captivated the world and prompted questions about raising their daughter in the Church of Scientology.
"Mission: Impossible" star Cruise, 50, married Holmes, 33, who first gained fame on television drama "Dawson's Creek," in a glamorous wedding in an Italian castle in November 2006. Suri was born about six months earlier.
The couple and their young daughter became a favorite of celebrity magazines and seemed happy until late last month when Holmes filed for a divorce in New York. Her move surprised fans and even Cruise, who was in Iceland shooting a movie.
Since then, the media have speculated that the pair differed on raising 6-year-old Suri as a Scientologist, although neither they nor their attorneys would comment on the matter.
"The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life," Holmes attorney Jonathan Wolfe of New Jersey-based firm Skoloff & Wolfe said in a statement.
Cruise lawyer Bert Fields also released a statement saying, "Tom is really pleased we got there, and so am I."
But there was no direct comment from either of the stars. Instead, they issued a joint statement ahead of the announcement.
"We are committed to working together as parents to accomplishing what is in our daughter Suri's best interests," the pair said in the statement. "We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents."
As reports surfaced on Monday with purported details of the custody agreement, lawyer Wolfe released a new statement saying the deal was being kept under wraps.
"There are numerous inaccuracies in the reports regarding the purported contents of the agreement reached between the parties. The agreement is confidential and its terms will not be disclosed," Wolfe said.