“He was painted as the bad guy, and that stuck with him for years.
“Tom was really stung by the way Nicole handled their break-up. She went on TV, made digs about his height and painted herself as the victim while he stayed silent and took the hits.”
Tom Cruise felt vilified after their 2001 divorce, while Nicole Kidman received sympathy. Photo / Getty Images
The source continued: “It annoyed him when this guy was painted as this saintly figure who’d swooped in on a white horse, so to speak, and rescued Nicole from the hellish memory of their marriage. He’s following the divorce news closely, and a part of him feels badly for her, since he knows how much she’s hurting.”
The insider went on to claim Cruise feels as though he’s been “proven right” by Kidman’s marriage unravelling.
“At the same time, he’s also allowing himself a little pat on the back and telling people close to him that this is karma doing its thing to a large degree,” said the insider. “Bottom line: he thought they were a hyped up couple who clearly had very little in common from the get-go – now he’s been proved right.”
Kidman previously stated her split from Cruise after 10 years of marriage was a “shock” to her. However, in later interviews, she reflected further and shared she was young when they married and needed to “grow up”.
The former couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, who chose to live with Cruise and are involved in Scientology.
Meanwhile, the insider’s comments come after Urban made his return to social media for the first time since news of his divorce to Kidman was made public.
After remaining silent online since September when Kidman filed for divorce after 19 years of marriage, the singer shared his first post on Instagram over the weekend.
The 58-year-old shared a clip from his new show The Road, a reality competition hosted by Blake Shelton that follows 12 emerging country music stars competing as opening acts for Urban on his US tour.
In the clip, he and fellow country music star Shelton looked back on some of the looks they’ve rocked in their careers.
“You know you learn a lot when you’ve been on the road for more than a few years … especially when it comes to your hair. right @keithurban??? @theroadcbs #TheRoad,” read the caption of the post shared by Shelton and reposted by Urban.
The pair laughed at some of their hairstyles, many of which they admit were questionable.
“You and I have both been in Nashville since the ‘90s and we went through some awkward phases,” Shelton joked before revealing the first pic of Urban with long blond hair.
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