Divorce

Is the Church of Scientology to blame for the collapse of the TomKat corporeal merger? The Los Angeles Times says Dawson's Creek sweetie turned Tom Cruise vassal Katie Holmes , 33, left her man in part because she felt the church controlled her life. Literally: Celebuzz says TomKat's household staff is handpicked by the church, which also dictates Tom's work decisions. Things came to a head, says TMZ, when Tom insisted their daughter, Suri , 6, be sent to live at Sea Org, a reportedly boot-camplike center where kids get an intensive course in L. Ron Hubbard 's teachings.

THERE ARE A LOT of questions being asked about the Katie Holmes-Tom Cruise split (the most obvious of which is: Why did it take so long?) but Tattle's question is: Will this give Kelly Preston the kick in the pants she needs? Some of the other questions making the rounds: Was Scientology the reason for Katie finally calling it quits? Did she merely finish out the terms of her five-year marriage contract? Did she wake up and realize, "Wait a second, Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman left Tom when they were 33. I'm 33. It's go time.

NEW YORK - Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing, bringing an end to one of Hollywood's most unexpected marriages, one that spawned euphoric couch-jumping on The Oprah Winfrey Show and endless speculation in the tabloids. After five years of marriage, Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise on Thursday, said Cruise's attorney, Bert Fields. Cruise, 49, wed the 33-year-old Holmes in 2006 in an Italian castle after publicly declaring his love on The Oprah Winfrey Show . His starry-eyed celebration (in which he famously jumped on the studio couch)

All the celebrisphere is abuzz with the sad yet long-expected news. Katie Holmes, 33, and Tom Cruise, 49, are divorcing, according to People mag and their reps. Reports from the front say she's hired a lawyer, filed the papers on Thursday — five days before the guy turns 50 — and wants sole custody of their daughter, Suri, 6. That renewed the notion, passed along by TMZ.com, that Katie didn't want Suri to get involved in Tom's Scientology (to which, BTW, Kate did convert). Poor Tom. He was evidently clueless about Katie's intentions, according to TMZ As evidence, the Web site ran pics of the two strolling hand in hand in Iceland just two weeks ago, with smiles that suggest no impending nastiness.

DEAR ABBY: I married "Linda" 22 years ago. Three years later, the marriage was over. After our divorce, I came out as gay. I met a wonderful man in 1996, and we were married in Iowa in 2009. Over the years, I have wondered how Linda was getting along. I'd like to get back in touch with her. At one time we lived only a few miles from her. I drove by her home, but lost my nerve when I saw her father standing outside. Family members discouraged me from attempting to contact her after our split.

Question: My wife and I have been together 38 years and we are, once again, going through a tough time. We have been seeing a marriage counselor and both respect and value the counselor's opinions and advice. But we don't seem to be getting anywhere. I feel as though my wife wants to control and smother me, and my wife wants more time from me than I can give her. Things are complicated by the fact that my wife just retired and I probably never will. I love my work. Also, I am heavily involved in a social-change movement, and my wife just seems to want to do nothing but go to the gym. How do we get things to work when we have different plans for the way we spend our time?

In 1935, Time magazine ran an article titled "Maniacal Wives. " It actually focused on ex-wives, who were allegedly bleeding their former spouses dry out of a mix of greed and vindictiveness. According to the author, 69 percent of the ex-wives he studied were "suffering from psychoses bordering on sadism. " Spend a few minutes trolling through the blog posts of New Jersey divorce-reform activists, and you might conclude that vengeful women are still taking hapless men to the cleaners.

Question: Ever since my husband left me five years ago, it seems I attract women friends in the process of divorce who want me to give them emotional support. However, I'm not good at it. First, it brings flashbacks of the most painful time in my life. Second, I know there are two sides to every story. My former best friend, who divorced her husband for not being emotional enough, did not appreciate my saying that I thought he loved her, and he was steady, and this was painful for him. Now another friend, whose marriage I admired because her husband was very communicative and loving, is acting in a way that's heading straight for the judge.

Does Lamar Odom blame his wife for ruining a potentially great NBA career? Does Lamar, effectively booted by the Dallas Mavericks, think Khloé Kardashian loves her career as one of the principals in The Kardashian Un-Reality Industry more than her marriage? Does he want to leave her? These questions haunt us at night. Khloé, too, by the sounds of it. The embattled reality star, who this week announced she and Lamar are temporarily benching their reality show, Khloé & Lamar, tells People mag there are bumps in her marriage.

DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 19 years, but I cannot stay faithful. I've had a few affairs, visit "massage parlors" and feel my wife deserves better. I want to walk away from our marriage. We have kids who will be affected, and it will hurt us financially. I haven't told my wife, but I believe she knows because we haven't been intimate in months. We discussed divorce, but that was before the kids. - Living a Lie in the Mid-Atlantic DEAR LIVING A LIE: It would have been better for you to have divorced before you had children.