Penelope Cruz Sues Magazine over Story

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday April 08, 2003 01:00 PM EDT

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Spanish actress and Tom Cruise squeeze Penelope Cruz is suing the Australian magazine New Idea for defamation over an article it published about her relationship with the "Mission: Impossible" star, her lawyers tell the Associated Press.

The case will appear before the New South Wales Supreme Court on May 30, the attorneys said.

"The proceedings state that the article contains a number of false and defamatory statements concerning Ms. Cruz," her legal firm, Gadens Lawyers, said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement goes on to say, "Ms. Cruz seeks substantial damages and is confident that legal proceedings will vindicate her reputation."

New Idea had no immediate comment.

Cruz, 28, could certainly turn to Cruise for advice in the case. The leading man has proven litigious when it comes to fighting allegations about his private life.

Earlier this year, he was awarded a $10 million financial settlement against Chad Slater, a former gay porn star who claimed he had been Cruise's lover.

In 1998, Cruise and his then-wife, Nicole Kidman, were awarded a six-figure sum after they successfully sued a British tabloid magazine that alleged their marriage was a sham, arranged to disguise Cruise's alleged homosexuality.