Inside the split that rocked Hollywood: After industry golden boy Tom Cruise skipped the Oscars because ex-wife Nicole Kidman was attending, a look back at their whirlwind marriage

Usually it’s the red carpet gowns, the speeches, presentations, snubs, accolades, even the very public slaps that dominate proceedings at the Academy Awards.

But on Sunday evening it was less about who attended and more about who didn’t as guests filed into Dolby Theatre ahead of the star-studded ceremony’s 95th annual presentation.

Posing for photographers outside the cavernous Los Angeles venue, Nicole Kidman, one of numerous celebrity guests on the night, looked typically glamorous while sharing a prolonged kiss with country star Keith Urban, her second husband and father of her two biological children.

But where was her first? With roaring box-office success Top Gun: Maverick nominated for no less than six awards, one could be forgiven for assuming a tuxedo-clad Tom Cruise and his famous grin would be present and correct for the acting community’s biggest night of the year.

Not so. Instead, the man grandly credited for ‘saving Hollywood’ by reviving the high-flying pilot he first played in 1987 was curiously absent, an absence DailyMail.com has since learned was caused by his ex-wife’s attendance.

All over: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorced in 2001, reportedly due to her refusal to join him in the Church of Scientology (pictured together in 1999)

Happier times: Cruise and Kidman (pictured in 1992) divorced in 2001 after 12 years of marriage amid rumours his commitment his Scientology drove a wedge between them

First meeting: Cruise and Kidman first met while filming cult racing drama Days Of Thunder in 1990 (pictured), during which they played lovers

Cruise and Kidman divorced in 2001, reportedly due to her refusal to join him in the Church of Scientology, and the actor is understood to have have swerved the Oscars after discovering she was on the guest list.

A source told DailyMail.com: ‘Tom was not there because she was there, and he did not want a run-in.’

But where did it all go so horribly wrong?

For a while at least, Cruise and Kidman appeared to find the sort of marital longevity one associates with very few Hollywood couples.

Golden Age veterans Humphry Bogart and Lauren Bacall spring to mind, twice-married Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor perhaps, even Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward – all survived decades of media scrutiny and enjoyed committed, lasting marriages.

Recurring theme: The couple would also play lovers in 1992 western epic Far And Away

Here we go: In Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 thriller Eyes Wide Shut they play a 𝑠e𝑥ually adventurous married couple

Old times: A beaming Cruise and Kidman attend the 72nd Annual Academy Awards in 1999 – two years before their shock divorce

Related Posts

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑎 𝐿𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 – 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 [𝐻𝐷]

𝐿𝑎 𝐿𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝐴 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓…

𝑃𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑦𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑛 2 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑟 – 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 | 𝑃𝑆-2 | 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑖 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑚 | 𝐴𝑅 𝑅𝑎ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑛 | 𝑉𝑖𝑘𝑟𝑎𝑚 | 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎

“𝑃𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑦𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑛: 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑇𝑤𝑜” 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑦, 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙…

Samrat Prithviraj – Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Manushi Chhillar, Sonu Sood

Samrat Prithviraj (transl. Emperor Prithviraj) is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language epic historical action drama film directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and produced by Yash Raj Films. The film is based on Prithviraj Raso, a Braj language epic poem…

Drag Me To Hell (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

PLOT: A loan officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse. Desperate, she turns to a seer to…

TRIBAL WOMEN’S RESCUE! Prabhas vs. Vishnu | Salaar Movie Scene | Hombale Films

The story follows Salaar, played by Prabhas, a mysterious man with a dark past, on his journey to avenge the death of his loved ones. With a…

Vidaa Muyarchi – Official Trailer | Ajith Kumar, Trisha, Sanjay Dutt | Magizh Thirumeni (Fan-Made)

“Vidaamuyarchi Notion” is a captivating action film from India that captures the attention of viewers throughout its runtime. The narrative focuses on the intense struggle of the…