Tom Cruise denies wife recruiting claims

Tom Cruise's representatives say there is no truth to allegations he recruited Katie Holmes as his wife. Photo / AP

Tom Cruise has dismissed reports that Katie Holmes was recruited as his wife.

The actor was forced to strike back at claims that members of his Scientology religion helped him pursue and win his now ex-wife Katie Holmes.

An article published in the American monthly magazine Vanity Fair claims officials went on a hunt for a new wife for Cruise in 2004.

The article claimed the controversial church set Cruise up with Scientologist and actress Nazanin Boniadi in 2004, before he dumped her and married Holmes.

"Lies in a different font are still lies - designed to sell magazines," Cruise's representatives told Radar Online.

But former Scientologist Paul Haggis insists claims that Scientologists auditioned wives for Cruise are true.

Haggis - who left the organisation in 2010 - told Showbiz411: "I was deeply disturbed by how the highest ranking members of a church could so easily justify using one of their members; how they so callously punished [Boniadi] and then so effectively silenced her when it was done. It wasn't just the threats; they actually made her feel ashamed, when all she had been was human and trusting."

The Crash director also claimed the actress - who is said to have fallen in love with Cruise and been devastated when they split - tried to repair her relationship with Scientology before resigning two years ago and said he understood her "shame".

He added: "I've met quite a number of people who have been treated shamefully but are afraid to speak out ... Most of the others are just ordinary people ... They live in fear of retribution, legal, financial or personal ... They fear an incredibly wealthy organisation that boasts that it seeks truth, empowers people, brings families together, encourages independent thought and free speech, and champions human rights.

"I would like to say that I don't know how its members, many of them good and intelligent people, can remain so purposely blind when they are faced with evidence like this every day, but then I am no one to talk.

"I was happily blind for many years, so I know the shame that Naz feels."

Cruise's marriage to Holmes lasted five years and together they had daughter Suri together.

Holmes was awarded custody of Suri when the couple divorced last month.

Because New York law requires that all divorce documents remain sealed, the exact terms of the settlement are not publicly available.

- Cover Media