Nicole Kidman made history in her latest Oscars appearance as she prepared to leave Los Angeles on Monday amid claims that her ex-husband, Tom Cruise, boycotted the ceremony because she was attending.
The Australian actress dressed in a pink T-shirt and baggy white jeans as she boarded a private jet with country star Keith Urban, her second husband.
The couple were accompanied by a pilot as they transported their belongings from the back of a car to the plane’s fuselage before finally boarding.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Kidman, 55, was making a rather more glamorous appearance at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, where she joined a star-studded guest list at the 95th annual Academy Awards.
With a team of attendees looking on awkwardly from the sidelines, the actress was seen sharing a lingering kiss on the red carpet with Urban, 55, as they posed for photographers outside the venue.
She’s out: Nicole Kidman sent her latest Oscar appearance down to history as she prepared to leave Los Angeles aboard a private jet on Monday
In good company: Nicole joined country star Keith Urban, her second husband
In Love: Less than 24 hours earlier, Kidman and Urban were putting on a rather more glamorous look at the 95th Annual Academy Awards
But their very obvious attendance was overshadowed by the surprising absence of Cruise, Kidman’s ex-husband and Hollywood’s golden boy after ‘saving the industry’ with the release of the smash hit Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise’s film, a sequel to the 1987 blockbuster Top Gun, was nominated for six awards, including the coveted Best Picture award.
But insiders said the actor was not at the ceremony because his ex-wife was there, following their bitter divorce more than 20 years ago.
Cruise and Kidman broke up in 2001, reportedly because she refused to join him in the Church of Scientology.
A source told DailyMail.com: “Tom wasn’t there because she was there, and he didn’t want a meeting.”
Helping hand: The couple were accompanied by a pilot as they transported their belongings from the back of a car to the plane’s fuselage before finally climbing aboard
Don’t take my word for it: But Urban was hard to miss while he was idling behind the wheel of his car on Monday.
Let’s go: Casually dressed Kidman was seen boarding the plane for his departure from Los Angeles
However, sources close to Cruise claimed that his absence was “not personal” and was nothing more than scheduling issues, though they did not specifically respond to the claim that it was related to Kidman’s presence.
Kidman, who walked the Oscars red carpet with her husband, the country singer, before becoming affectionate during the show, was conspicuously absent at an Oscars luncheon attended by her former Scientologist last month.
Cruise was seen hugging Steven Spielberg during lunch on February 13, when the director was heard on video telling the action star that Maverick had “saved Hollywood’s ass” by bringing audiences back to theaters.
His ex-wife, with whom he shares two children – Connor, 28, and Isabella, 30 – was conspicuously absent from that event.
Closing: The actress shared a lingering red carpet kiss with Urban at the Oscars on Sunday
Happier Times: Cruise and Kidman (pictured in 1992) divorced in 2001 after 12 years of marriage amid rumors that her commitment to Scientology drove a wedge between them.
Kidman met Cruise in 1990 when the two were cast together in Days of Thunder, a movie about car racing.
She was 23 years old at the time, and coming from Australia, she was an unknown in Hollywood. That all changed when the stars began a real-life romance during filming.
After 12 years of marriage, Cruise left his wife in 2001, leaving her in a state of “total shock.” He filed for divorce that same year, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
The real reason he walked out on her was reportedly due to her refusal to join the Church of Scientology.
In 2012, Kidman opened up about her painful split from Cruise in an interview with DuJour magazine.
Hit: Top Gun: Maverick focused on Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell thirty years after the original film. In the movie, he was forced to deal with ghosts from his past.
Epic ending: A photographer captured this photo of Nicole leaving her lawyer’s office as her divorce from Tom was finalized in 2001
‘I thought our life together was perfect. It took me a long time to heal. It was a shock to my system,” she said.
We were in a bubble, just the two of us. We became very dependent on each other. She was reeling with Tom,’ he told the outlet. “I would have gone to the ends of the earth for him…I was totally in love, I fell madly and passionately in love.”
Looking back, she told the outlet that she was “naive” to think that Cruise was her happily ever after. She also said that she was “happier” than she “has ever been.”
I live with a friend in Nice. My two daughters are with me, Sunday Rose, who is four, and Faith Margaret, who is two,” Kidman said.
Kidman and Cruise have not had any interaction in over a decade.
Previously: Kidman was conspicuously absent from an Oscars luncheon attended by her former Scientologist last month (Pictured: Tom Cruise at the Los Angeles event)
Although Cruise did not attend the 2023 Oscars, producer Jerry Bruckheimer would accept the award if Maverick won Best Picture.
The Cruise starring film was nominated for Best Picture alongside Elvis, Avatar: The Way of Water, All Quiet on The Western Front and The Fabelmans. Everything, Everywhere All at Once won in the category.
Cruise was not nominated for his performance in the film. Austin Butler was nominated for his role in Elvis, as was Bill Nighy for Living. Brendan Fraser won for his incredible performance in the movie Whale.
Maverick was also nominated for Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects and Music (Original Song). The only award the film won was for Sound.
Kidman was nominated for five Academy Awards in the Best Actress category, winning the coveted gold trophy in 2002 for her incredible portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
