(Not so) Happy Birthday Tom Cruise

I am willing to bet Tom Cruise did not have the spectacularly fun 50^th birthday celebration that he may have hoped for. Often when someone in our culture turns 50, they get some gag gifts joking about getting old and joining AARP. Katie Holmes’ 50th birthday gift to Tom Cruise, however, wasn’t funny at all. She gave him a surprise divorce.

The aging actor has been extremely busy in his 50^th year of life. In addition to now dealing with a divorce from his third wife and mother of his 6-year-old daughter, Suri, Cruise has been stumping for his latest movie, Rock of Ages. The film is a musical comedy based on the Broadway production by the same name. Cruise plays Stacee Jaxx, a rock star who recently retired from his band and is recruited to play at a nightclub to help raise money to pay off his band’s debt. The all-star cast includes Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Julianna Hough, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Malin Åkerman, Mary J. Blige, and Bryan Cranston. The musical also includes songs from some of our favorite ’80s and ’90s hair bands: Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Skid Row, Twisted Sister, Devid Lee Roth, and Joan Jett just to name a few.

Tom has also already started filming his next movie, a science-fiction film titled Oblivion, in Iceland. Hopefully, the work will help keep his mind busy and allow for some relief of stress his divorce is certainly causing him.

Cruise has claimed that he was completely “blindsided” to learn that Holmes filed for divorce this week in New York.

A spokeswoman for Cruise said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times: "Kate has filed for divorce, and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy to work this out."

It is believed that Homes intentionally filed for divorce in New York because it is a state that seals divorce filings from the public. Therefore, there is only speculation at this time as to what the divorce is all about, as no one saw it coming. Most media sources are sticking with the idea that Holmes does not embrace Cruise’s religion of Scientology and is opting to divorce and seeking full custody of Suri to “protect” her from the religion.

Holmes’ divorce attorney released a statement to People magazine that read, "This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family. Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest."

Seeking full custody will not be an easy battle, as Cruise clearly has the money to take on any divorce lawyers while hiring the best to represent himself, and there seems little doubt that he will fight back for custody of Suri.

Homes has already hired two divorce attorneys known for representing celebrities, plus her father just happens to be a divorce attorney in Ohio. She also already moved herself and Suri into a New York apartment, suggesting she’s been planning the divorce for awhile now and was prepared to move quickly as soon as the papers were filed.

Poor Tom Cruise – did he really not see this coming? Well, perhaps his eyesight has gotten worse with age. Either way, happy birthday, Mr. Cruise.