This story is sort of anticlimactic after CB’s earlier post about the clusterf-ck that is the Church of Scientology. But consider this as an addendum to it – because Katie Holmes has been absorbed into Tom Cruise’s creepy CoS world, and most of the tabloids are reporting that she’s looking for a way out. The bulk of In Touch’s story is the same old stuff, much of it regurgitated from their cover story last week – Katie is sad, she doesn’t care about her appearance, Tom is getting on her last nerve, et cetera. Now they’re claiming that Tom even pointed out to Katie that she’s “gaining weight” – as in, he didn’t like the enormous five pounds she put on. But before I get into that, there were a few pieces of information that were new to me.

First, there was this little piece in one of the sidebars to the story: “Katie may find Tom’s divorce from his second wife, Nicole Kidman, 42, to be something of a cautionary tale. Not only does Tom have full custody of their kids – Connor and Isabella – a pal says, ’They call Katie ’Mom’ but they call Nicole by her first name.’ Nicole admitted to Marie Claire that the children prefer living in LA to living with her and her husabnd Keith Urban in Nashville.” It’s interesting because that’s what we’ve all been thinking, haven’t we? Katie is staying with Tom at this point because she doesn’t want to be separated from Suri. Of course, if my theory is right about Suri’s conception, Tom might not even have a biological claim on Suri. So if Katie ever does leave Tom, that should be the card she plays, I think.

The second part I found interesting was this pullout – “She’s not a trophy wife anymore”. In Touch points out that when she was first with Tom, Katie “seemed far more focused on her looks than on her acting career.” But lately, Katie “has been dressing down – and telling her friends that wants to be taken seriously.” Tom allows Katie to have friends? And Katie was well dressed before? Well, I guess they’re making the comparison to what she looks like now.

“Katie and Tom’s relationship is troubled,” says a pal, adding that Katie often holds her tongue to avoid upsetting Suri. “Her priority in life is being a mom.”

“The bottom like is, Katie wants her own life,” the pal says, adding that it’s hard to come by because Tom is such a big star. “She wants to be more than Mrs. Tom Cruise.”

The pal claims Katie has began to rebel against the relationship in subtle ways, like overeating when Tom isn’t around. “He usually has her on a strict diet and exercise routine, but since she’s been in Australia, she’s put on five pounds… she’s been eating chocolates, potato chips and pizza. Tom has mentioned to her that she’s putting on weight, but she doesn’t care.”

Katie wants to strike out on her own as she sees fit, even if it means making the wrong career choice. “Even her recent appearance on So You Think You Can Dance was green-lighted by Tom,” another pal explains. “She’s tired of it.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, September 7 2009]

Oh, she gained five whole pounds! After looking like an emaciated zombie for the better part of a year, I hope those five whole pounds went a long way to making her look healthier. Even though I suspect it’s not true, wouldn’t Tom be the biggest bitch in the world for “mentioning” that she’s putting on weight? But I do believe Tom probably keeps her on a Xenu diet. Anti-Thetan corn flakes, barley water and discipline. Tom probably didn’t even notice that Katie had gained weight. It’s not like he would even care.