‘Tis the season for adult celebrity children to drop their deadbeat dad’s last name. Last month, Shiloh Jolie filed to legally drop the “Pitt” portion of her last name right after she turned 18 on May 27. Her sisters, Zahara and Vivienne, have already stopped using Pitt publicly, but Shiloh is the first of the Jolie children that we know has done it legally.
Suri Cruise, daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, is also ditching her biological father’s last name. Suri, who turned 18 back in April and reportedly hasn’t seen her dad since 2012, now goes by Suri Noelle. Suri’s birth certificate does not list a middle name, so the “Noelle” honors her mother, whose middle name is Noelle. Last month, she used that moniker in a playbill. This past weekend, Suri graduated from high school, which is bonkers to me because I remember when she was born, and how on earth has it been 18 years?! Well, just like with her school play, the graduation program listed her as Suri Noelle.
Suri Cruise is officially a high school graduate! The daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise celebrated getting her diploma from LaGuardia High School on Friday with her mom by her side. In photos and video obtained by Page Six, she could be seen ringing in the milestone moment by snapping pics with Holmes and a friend in New York City, where she resides. The teen was also photographed animatedly hugging another recent graduate.
Suri, 18, looked thrilled as she posed with Holmes, 45, for photos outside a brick building before heading into the United Palace Theatre, located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.
She rocked a dainty, white dress under her red graduation robe, and paired the ensemble with white sandals that had floral embellishments on them. Her brunette hair was styled down. Holmes, meanwhile, opted for a matching set that consisted of light yellow pleated pants and a collared long-sleeve shirt.
Suri’s father, Tom, was not present at the special event, as they have been estranged for most of her life. He instead attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London.
It was even revealed in the teen’s graduation ceremony pamphlet that she goes by “Suri Noelle” and seemingly does not use her famous dad’s last name.
Suri is expected to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in the fall.
On Tuesday night, she looked all grown up as she headed to senior prom with her friends and a brunette date, who was seen holding her by her waist.
I think it’s super sweet that Suri is using Katie’s middle name. What a lovely way to honor her mother. Katie really saved both of their lives by getting away from Tom and the Scientology cult and raising Suri out of the spotlight. She did good. I’m sure she has a lot of emotions watching her graduate from high school. I bet Tom had no idea that the graduation was even happening. Even so, watching him exchange friendship bracelets with young women and bounce along to “Shake It Off” from a VIP tent at Wembley Stadium while his daughter is graduating high school is a pretty big reminder about how much he sucks as a father. Based on the pictures we’ve seen of Suri with her mom and interacting with her classmates, Suri seems like a lovely, well-adjusted young woman. I hope she has a wonderful college experience at Carnegie Mellon.
Also, I had forgotten how celebrity babies were born all around that same time! Besides Suri and Shiloh, Violet Affleck (Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck), Jayden Federline (Britney Spears and Kevin Federline), and Moses Martin (Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin) all either just turned or are turning 18 this year. I followed gossip back then, albeit primarily through print magazines, so this is making me feel really old right now. But on that front, I find it even more interesting how the chickens are coming home to roost for people like Cruise and Pitt. There were so many warning signs back then but that was still a misogynistic era where publicists had some power and people were more than willing to give handsome men the benefit of the doubt. I love that both men’s daughters grew up and believed them when they showed who they are.
Suri Cruise celebrates high school graduation with mom Katie Holmes, drops dad Tom’s last name at ceremony https://t.co/kS9pOQ1OvD pic.twitter.com/dPd5yBbszb
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 22, 2024
Photos credit: BrosNYC/Fernando Ramales/Backgrid