Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise used to be the Hollywood power couple. From the bizarre moment when Tom announced his undying love for Katie by jumping on Oprah’s couch, it was clear that their relationship was something different. Things between the couple moved pretty fast. Katie converted to Scientology within two months, she was pregnant shortly after that, and the two were married shortly after their daughter was born. And for the duration of their marriage, Katie seemed to be perfectly content with her life. That is, until she blindsided Tom, and the world, with the news that she was filing for divorce and taking their daughter with her.

Looking back on it, there were signs that Katie and Tom’s marriage was anything but normal. Many, many signs. It’s clear now that Tom Cruise has some control issues. Yet somehow none of us saw it at the time. From the weird behavior and sudden changes in Katie’s appearance to the controlling and abusive behavior, there was a lot going on. Luckily, we’re here to break it down and parse it all out for you. Here are fifteen of the shady things that absolutely everyone ignored about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ marriage.

15 Tom Performed His Own Sonograms On Katie

Anyone who has been pregnant can tell you what a bizarre, emotional experience sonograms are. Being able to see the baby moving around and hear his or her heartbeat is a one of a kind experience. For most women, these procedures take place in the obstetrician's office during a routine appointment. But Katie Holmes is not most women.

When Katie and Tom found out that they were expecting their daughter, Tom went above and beyond the call of duty. He didn’t just accompany her to her ultrasound appointments. No. He bought his own personal sonogram machine so that he could keep an eye on how the pregnancy was progressing. This is just as bizarre as it sounds. Ultrasounds aren’t supposed to be performed all willy-nilly, and should only be done by professionals trained to operate the equipment and read the images. There were even rumors that Tom did this in order to prevent Katie from going to a regular hospital for her prenatal care. Yikes!

14 Katie Had A “Scientology Chaperone” In Her Interviews

We’ve all suspected that Tom Cruise is a creepy, controlling dude. After all, Katie reportedly had to orchestrate her escape from their marriage in secret, using burner phones and secret apartments. So it should be no surprise that Tom kept a close watch on her throughout their marriage. It has been reported that Katie was forced to have “Scientology chaperones” present at every interview with the media. Clearly, someone didn’t want her to talk.

This chaperone was responsible for making sure the interview stayed on topic and didn’t drift too close to the subject of Scientology and the stranger aspects of their relationship. The practice of sending a Scientology chaperone to interviews with Katie reportedly grew out of the media’s obsession with asking probing questions about the role Scientology played in their relationship. It is unclear whether this move was dictated by the Church of Scientology or by Tom Cruise himself. Either way, it’s more proof of the controlling nature of their relationship.

13 Katie Feared Scientology Would Take Her Child

Katie shocked the world when she enacted her super-secret marriage escape plan. Immediately after the news hit the internet people started to speculate about what would cause her to leave such a seemingly cushy relationship. Sure, there had been theories about Tom’s controlling behavior and Katie’s unending unhappiness. But this was way before the #MeToo movement, so few were talking about how Tom’s behavior may have been abusive.

It turns out that one of the driving factors behind the split may have been Katie’s desire to protect her daughter from the Church of Scientology. Katie was raised Catholic and embraced Scientology during her relationship with Tom. Rumor has it though that she was terrified that Scientology would be forced on her daughter the way it had been forced on Tom’s children with ex-wife Nicole Kidman. She got out before Suri was old enough for the religion to have a hold on her.

12 Tom Read Katie’s Mail

More evidence on the “Tom is creepy and controlling” list is the fact that he, allegedly, read her mail. Presumably without her consent. In the United States, it can be considered a crime to open another person’s mail, even if that person is your spouse. Of course, we’ve never heard of anyone actually prosecuting someone for this, but it could happen. For Katie, there was no privacy, not even in the post.

Tom reportedly doesn’t believe in spouses keeping anything secret from each other. This appears to extend to junk mail and flyers. It takes a supremely insecure and controlling person to feel compelled to open a spouse’s mail all of the time. Especially without their knowledge. Talk about creepy! Once you start listing all the red flags in this relationship it is kind of hard to believe we used to think he was a normal guy.

11 Scientology Members Moved Into Their Home

A movie star as rich and famous as Tom Cruise is bound to have hired help. There’s no way a man like that cleans his own toilet, amirite? So it is no surprise at all that Katie and Tom had a staff to help run the house, keep their schedules in order, and provide childcare when necessary. That all sounds perfectly normal by Hollywood standards.

What is less normal is that all of the staff at their house were rumored to be Church of Scientology members. Whether that is because Tom spends so much of his time at the church that he barely knows anyone outside of it, or whether it’s because he wanted someone to keep an eye on Katie at all times, we will never know. We’re betting it was the latter. Poor girl couldn’t even do her laundry in peace!

10 Katie Was Supposed To Have A “Silent Labor”

This piece of strange medical advice certainly made headlines at the time. The Church of Scientology is known, in part, for all its rules dictating how members are supposed to conduct their lives. It should be no surprise that this extended even to childbirth. That’s right, there were strict rules that Katie was supposed to follow while pregnant and in labor with their daughter.

One of the strangest of which was the labor should be completely silent. No one was supposed to talk or make the slightest noise in the room, lest the laboring mother be upset by it. Even more ridiculous, as any mother can attest to, is that idea that Katie was supposed to labor silently. That’s right: no moans, groans, screams, or grunts were ever supposed to pass this momma’s lips. That’s just insane. The body’s gonna do what the body’s gonna do in this situation and no amount of religious doctrine can stop it.

9 Katie Couldn’t Publicly Date Anyone After Divorce

Here’s something that only came to light quite recently, when Katie and Jamie Foxx went public with their long rumored, and freaking adorable, relationship. It is rumored that Katie was forbidden from dating anyone publicly for five years after their divorce was finalized. A date that passed mere days before Katie and Jamie took their relationship public. Though reportedly the two had already been dating for years.

It’s hard to say why Tom would have included this clause in their divorce settlement, but we can sure speculate. It could have been on last attempt to control Katie’s behavior for as long as possible. Or maybe he didn’t want the world to see that Katie could get over him so quickly. Or maybe he’s just an a$$. Whatever the reason, we’re sure glad that Katie and Jamie can live their life openly now.

8 Tom Had “Wife Auditions”

Here’s something else to add to the list of reasons why the Church of Scientology is creepy af. It has long been rumored that, following Tom’s split from Nicole Kidman, the Church of Scientology held auditions to find a new wife for their star member. Remember, Tom is rumored to be basically as high up in the church as it is possible to go without being the founder. So, we suppose, that they would do anything to keep their main man looking good.

Many young actresses are rumored to have been auditioned, though they all deny that any such thing occurred. It is thought that these auditions were disguised as auditions for a part in one of Tom’s upcoming movies. These auditions supposedly took place after Tom broke up with Penélope Cruz, whom he had recently worked with on the film Vanilla Sky. It is reported that he was so upset with being single that the Church took it upon themselves to try and end his suffering.

7 Katie’s On-Screen Limitations

By now we’re all familiar with how controlling Tom Cruise is reported to be. He seems to have controlled every aspect of Katie Holmes’ life while they were together; dictating what could be said at interviews and going through her mail. It is also worth mentioning that her career began a surprising resurgence at around the time the two hooked up. This new career direction did not come without its limitations, however.

It appears that Tom could not stand the idea of Katie showing affection for any of her costars, even though it was her job. As an actress, Katie would be expected to have romantic scenes opposite other men from time to time. This was suddenly unacceptable! It fact, it is rumored that Tom forbid any press or publicity for one of Katie’s project because it contained one such romantic scene.

6 Tom’s Bizarre Love-Struck Antics

We all remember that time Tom jumped up and down on Oprah’s couch while declaring is undying true love for an incredibly shy Katie Holmes. It was a shocking moment, to say the least. This was just the beginning of what would turn into routine public performances of affection between the two. Every time they walked a red carpet together, they looked magically, passionately in love.

Sometimes Tom would spin and dip her on the carpet. Often, he planted over-the-top kisses on her face. It was almost as if the world was their stage, and we were the audience. Looking back on it now it is easy to see that this was all a performance, something done to convince the rest of us that they were happy and in love. Just another bizarre aspect of their controlling, abusive relationship.

5 Katie’s Mission-Impossible Divorce Proceedings

Katie and Tom’s divorce shocked the world, in part because it came out of nowhere. Many people could tell that Katie was slowly becoming a shell of her former self, but no one saw this insanity coming. And for good reason! Katie took extreme care to make sure that no one in the media found out about the divorce until she had extricated herself and her daughter from Tom’s grasp.

There were burner phones, secret meetings, lawyers, and multiple law firms. Katie set everything up to happen all at once so that nothing would leak to the press that could give her plans away. This kind of thing only happens when a woman is afraid for her life or the well-being of her child, and Katie carried it off masterfully. The whole thing ended as fast as it began; the couple came to a settlement just eleven days after the papers were filed.

4 The Prenuptial Agreement

It should be no surprise that someone as rich and famous as Tom Cruise would have his wife-to-be sign a prenup. It’s a pretty standard part of any Hollywood marriage these days. In this case Katie had the good fortune of being the daughter of a lawyer, and her dad made sure that there was a built in escape route for his daughter should she need it. And it’s a good thing too!

The extremely specific prenup is credited for helping to end the divorce proceedings so quickly. There was very little for the couple to quibble over. And it probably helped that Katie didn’t want much of anything except sole custody of their daughter. Katie has remained pretty silent on the divorce, revealing very few specifics of the settlement. Though it is notable that she hasn’t spoken out about Scientology in any way, despite the rumors that the religion was the main reason for the divorce.

3 Scientology Classes For Their Kid

Religious classes aren’t entirely out of the norm. Some kids go to private religion schools, some attend Sunday school. It’s one way that many families ensure their child has a solid foundation in their religion of choice.There’s nothing inherently weird about it.Unless you are Tom Cruise’s children, in which case it takes things to a whole new level.

Reportedly Tom’s two older children, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman, have taken classes on how to identify “suppressive persons” and remove them from their lives. And Tom wanted a Scientology education for his youngest as well. Had he gotten his way Suri would have been homeschooled by Scientology approved instructors who would have overseen her standard education as well as a Scientology-based curriculum. Talk about indoctrinating them while they’re young! Even Katie herself was forced to take Scientology classes during their relationship.

2 From Katie To Kate

It is not uncommon for people to shed their childhood nicknames as they grow up. Oftentimes the nicknames we take for ourselves in childhood sound too juvenile as we enter adulthood and start our careers and families. Celebrities change their names more frequently than the rest of us, some altering their stage names due to marriages or just because they feel like a change. For Katie Holmes, a new name became another way for Tom to try to control her image.

As their relationship hit the ground running, those of us watching from the sidelines began to notice changes in Katie. Her fashion choices changed considerably. She chopped off all her hair. She...changed her name? It’s rumored that Tom attempted to change Katies name to Kate, though the change didn’t really stick. Apparently he referred to her as Kate in private and objected to Katie because it was a “little girl’s name.”

1 Tom Splits From Katie (And All His Wives) When They Turn 33

Here’s a weird conspiracy theory to round out our list. Tom has divorced all of his wives when they turned 33. Now, this could of course just be a coincidence. Or maybe he just likes younger women? He wouldn’t be the only Hollywood star to ditch his girlfriends before they get “too old,” *cough* Leonardo Dicaprio *cough*. As callous as that may be, it’s not super out of the ordinary.

In this case things may or may not be a little more bizarre than they seem. According to reports, the number 33 has special significance in Scientology, and this may explain why Tom has separated from each of his wives as they turned 33. Of course, Tom didn’t initiate the divorce from Katie Holmes, she did. And given how unhappy Katie was it’s hard to believe she would knowingly play into any sort of weird Scientology thing. Still, it is an odd coincidence.

Sources: TheRichest, Fame10, NickiSwift, DailyMail, Mirror