Tom Cruise: A Solo Act

Cruise and Cruz are no more.

Tom and Penelope have broken up. Both of their publicists tell People
Magazine they split up in January but they're still friends.

People Magazine senior-editor and The Early Show contributor Jess Cagle broke the story and he tells co-anchor Rene Syler, "A lot of rumors they had broken up ignited when she didn't go with him to the Golden Globes and he was nominated for 'The Last Samurai.'

"In reality, she was going to Spain to visit her father. Shortly after that, they decided to call it quits. I think they've been in the process."

Penelope Cruz's spokesman says religion was not involved in the
breakup. And, he says she had not become a Scientologist. But, he
says, she has taken Scientology courses.

"She continues to take courses," Cagle notes, "She's a big advocate of what scientology has done for her. She says it's very beneficial. In this case, it had nothing to do with the breakup."

Tom Cruise is reported to be an ardent Scientologist. Shortly after his high-profile divorce from actress Nicole Kidman, the actor met Penelope Cruz while the two were filming "Vanilla Sky."

As for rumors that Cruise decided to split from his powerful publicist Pat Kingsley because of his religious beliefs, Cagle says it is hard to tell whether that is true.

"It depends on who you ask," he says. "I think there was some frustration with his publicity firm because these days if you want to get through to Tom Cruise, you go through a team of people, many of whom are actually Scientologists and Tom is very vocal in his support of the church. I think that maybe P&K and Tom clashed over this. However, there were a lot of other issues at work.

"There was, I think, some frustration in Cruise's camp that he was not nominated for an Oscar for 'The Last Samurai.' I think there were other concerns about certain press he's been getting lately - or not been getting lately.

"There were a lot of issues at play here. Probably, Tom Cruise is never actually going to tell us what happened. Remember when he broke up with Nicole Kidman? He never said what happened. I think in a way that's gentlemanly. In a way, it is just the way he is. He keeps everything very close to the vest."