Monster fight: Tom Cruise's lawyer to sue National Enquirer over 'false and vicious lies'
STAR'S lawyer says National Enquirer's "Tom's House of Horrors" story will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
TOM Cruise has threatened to sue the National Enquirer for a cover story that brands him an abusive "monster".
The legal threat comes after Cruise's shock split from wife Katie Holmes less than two weeks ago.
The tabloid, emblazoned with a bold "Inside Tom’s House of Horrors!" cover headline, claimed Holmes endured a "tortured life" of punishments and humiliation with a controlling, abusive Cruise.
The Enquirer also said the couple's six-year-old daughter Suri was forced to live in a small, windowless room for six months.
An outraged Cruise had his lawyer Bert Fields fire off a letter blasting the "disgraceful and lurid" story to Enquirer publisher American Media, The Hollywood Reporter has reported.
Cruise is demanding the Enquirer retract the story and its "lies", which his lawyer says will cost the actor hundreds of millions of dollars of professional and personal damages.
"Mr Cruise is certainly not a 'monster.' He is a caring father, a hardworking actor and, above all, an honest, decent man," the letter said, adding that Suri slept in a nursery - with a window - adjoining the couple’s bedroom.
Cruise has been dogged by rabid speculation over his personal life, especially over his devotion to Scientology, ever since Katie Holmes blindsided him by filing for a divorce.
Holmes was given sole custody of their daughter this week, in a move widely seen as an attempt to stop details of Cruise’s private life being dragged through the media.