Tom Cruise, in a move that could hurt his own sister Lee Anne DeVette who acted as his publicist for some time, has now sought to replace her by celebrity PR agent Paul Bloch. DeVette, who has been practically dependent on her brother's patronage since March 2004 is now likely to take charge of Cruise's charitable work.
After a rocky tenure handling publicity for The Mission: Impossible star, during which his reputation dropped to an all-time, Cruise's portfolio shuffling seems to have been inevitable. But it appears that DeVette is being victimized for Cruise's poor image after he “couch-jumped” in an Oprah show to reiterate his “burning” love for Katie Holmes to whom he has been engaged to since June this year.
However the bigger question is whether Katie Holmes, who herself signed on with DeVette recently is also moving to with her beau and father of her unborn child to Bloch. For whatever it is worth, Holmes may require a good publicist after incensing her religious father and possibly many Catholic fans with her pregnancy before marriage.
A lot of Tom Cruise's recent moves seem to have an undercurrent of his relationship with Katie Holmes, which both actors' claim as “true love” whereas everyone else puts as a big publicity stunt. The couple's belief in Scientology also has been questioned, given that in some ways they do not follow its principles to the T. DeVette also seems to have had little control over the rising negative publicity on Cruise part of which owe to his own sharp-talking or acting.
43-year-old Cruise meanwhile praised his sister saying that she had done "a wonderful job" and would now represent him for charitable work as she had "always expressed a desire to oversee”. Putting publicity for himself and his production company as the domain of Paul Bloch of Rogers and Cowan, Cruise said, "This seemed an appropriate time to make that segue”. Ever since Cruise parted ways with publicist Pat Kingsley in March 2004, he has been doing lot of talking himself mostly about his belief in Scientology and his new love. However DeVette seems to have taken the change well saying, "I know how important Tom's charitable goals are to him".
Bloch who boasts of a client list that includes some senior stars like John Travolta, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone has yet another 40-plus star in his portfolio. While Bloch is pleased that he has done well for himself, it remains to be seen whether what is good for the Beckhams is good for a Cruise or is it the soon-to-be Cruises? The move in some ways is reminiscent of the picture snapped of Cruise kissing Holmes passionately while eyeing the audience. Maybe that is what love is all about, public love.
