As amicable as a split might be, there is always a little level of resentment. Or at least, that’s what it seems like in Hollywood, because even when it’s been a while since two people broke up, the narrative about exes is always complicated, to say the least. And Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are no strangers to this. Particularly considering it’s long been rumored that their split wasn’t even amicable to begin with.
Now, with Kidman splitting from her second husband, Keith Urban, the reports indicate Cruise is taking it as “karma” for the way their own divorce went. “When Tom and Nicole split, he caught all the blame and she got all the sympathy. He was painted as the bad guy … that stuck with him for years,” an insider told International Business Times.
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“Tom was really stung by the way Nicole handled their break-up. She went on TV, made digs about his height, and painted herself as the victim, while he stayed silent and took the hits,” the source added. And reportedly, Cruise was no fan of Keith Urban either. “It annoyed him when this guy was painted as this saintly figure who’d swooped in on a white horse, so to speak, and rescued Nicole from the hellish memory of their marriage,” the source said.
Reportedly, there is sympathy, though. Particularly for someone going through their own breakup, with actress Ana de Armas. “He’s following the divorce news closely, and a part of him feels badly for her, since he knows how much she’s hurting. At the same time, he’s also allowing himself a little pat on the back and telling people close to him that this is karma doing its thing.”
“Bottom line: He thought they were a hyped up couple who clearly had very little in common from the get-go — now he’s been proved right.”
There’s no doubt that Cruise feels “vindicated,” according to sources. “Tom’s not gloating about it,” another source insisted. “He genuinely sympathises with Nicole because he knows how painful it is to have everyone dissect your private life. Still, there’s a part of him that feels vindicated. He’s always believed Keith was more of a rebound than the real thing.”
And rumors about Urban indicate that even though the ink on the divorce petition has barely dried, he has already moved on. “The rumor is that he’s with a younger woman in the business,” a “Nashville music industry source told Daily Mail. “It’s all everyone is talking about. Everyone wants to know who, but so far, that’s a mystery.”
Rob Shuter’s ShuterScoop had reported before that Kidman wanted to stay in the marriage, but Urban didn’t. “Nicole wanted to fight for them, but Keith had already checked out—and she knew why. It wasn’t about distance, schedules, or bad habits. It was about another woman. And Nicole knows who she is.” Another insider added, “She’s not naïve. She heard the stories; she saw the signs. At some point, the truth becomes impossible to ignore. She’s not going to live as anyone’s second choice.”
Kidman and Cruise were married in 1990 and announced their divorce in February 2001 with a press release that focused on the “difficulties inherent of diverging careers which constantly keep them apart.”
