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| Thursday, 16 January, 2003, 10:36 GMT Cruise wins 'gay' claims legal battle ![]() Cruise is very protective of his personal reputation Actor Tom Cruise has won a $10m (�6.23m) case against a gay porn actor who claimed to have had an affair with the film star. A Los Angeles judge entered the default judgment after Chad Slater admitted that his story was false, Cruise's lawyer has confirmed on Wednesday. Ricardo Cestero said Cruise was "very, very pleased with getting this judgment".
The judgement marks the second time Cruise - star of Mission: Impossible and Minority Report - has won legal battles to quash rumours that he is gay. The default judgement was entered by the judge in late December. Cruise had originally succeeded in suing Slater over the false allegations, but later requested the latest judgement when Slater defaulted on the suit last year. Slater was not available for comment. It is not clear whether Cruise will demand that Slater - a former "erotic wrestler" also known as Kyle Bradford - pays the judgement fee. Previous action In his action, Cruise said Slater falsely told a French magazine called Actustar that his gay love affair with Cruise led to the actor's August 2001 divorce from actress Nicole Kidman. The actor said he would donate any proceeds of the lawsuit to charity.
Cruise last acted against gay rumours in 2001, when the 40-year-old actor sued Michael Davis, the Los Angeles publisher of Bold Magazine, for $100m (�62.3m). Davis claimed to have a videotape of Cruise engaged in homosexual acts. 'Protective' The actor dropped the suit later that year after Davis retracted his claim and agreed to a stipulation that Cruise "is not, and never has been, homosexual and has never had a homosexual affair". Cruise is determined to take legal action for defamation against anyone who spreads false rumours about him, said his lawyer. "He is very concerned and very protective about his personal reputation," Ricardo Cestero. "To the extent that if people are writing stories that defame him, he is going to go after them," he said. | See also: 13 Jan 03 | Entertainment 04 Dec 02 | Entertainment 26 Sep 02 | Entertainment 20 Sep 02 | Entertainment Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Entertainment stories now: Links to more Entertainment stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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