Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes “Calmly” Start Divorce Proceedings

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are doing everything in their power to keep their divorce proceedings private. The best way to do that would be to avoid a big, nasty, public blowout, and contrary to prior reports, it looks like they’re going to do just that. Tom and Katie have started settlement talks and everything is, for all intents and purposes, “calm.”

The dueling couple have reportedly called a temporary truce in order to attempt to settle their case out of court. Sources say that neither side want a public, protracted court battle and will work it out without a hearing so long as negotiations don’t fall apart. Hot button topics include child custody, visitation, child support, and some form of a property settlement. If things go well, Tom might not even file a motion to get the case moved to California where joint custody is more likely. It could all go down in New York, notes TMZ.

“Neither one of them wants this to be hashed out in public,” said a source close to People.

Most of the focus in the story has surrounded Katie Holmes, and for good reason. Tom’s legal team has been playing mum with the media, allowing Katie’s side to flush through readers like you and make you tired of her before they come out with Tom’s side. Almost everything we know about Tom is that he is “deeply saddened” by Katie’s decision, and, “Tactically we can’t say where Tom will file a divorce case and if he’ll be seeking joint custody of Suri,” said his lawyer, Bert Fields.

“We are letting ‘the other side’ (Katie and her team), play the media until they wear everyone out and then we’ll have something to say,” he told the BBC. “It’s not Tom’s style to do this publicly. He is really sad about what’s happening.”