There's nary a name that makes a publicist, lawyer or journalist shudder as much as that of Mr. Tom Cruise. The Cruise-mobile is a juggernaut of clauses, riders, contracts, and agreements. In other words, gossip columnists hate him because he'll sue their asses for sneezing while he smiles sweetly for the cameras. But journalist Bill Conroy, writing to media daddy Jim Romenesko, wonders why the New York Post is now engaged in a Cruise vendetta:

Does anyone know why the NY Post has it in for him? ...Over the years I've noticed the Post never misses a chance to include gratuitous adjectival digs at Cruise - often going out of its way to remind the reader that he is short, by the Post's undefined standard, anyway - or to mention other qualities that the paper clearly believes put him in a bad light.

Of course, we'll take a stab at any letter not directly addressed to us. We're just nosy neighbors!

First of all: "Other qualities"? Heh.

You see, Tom Cruise totally sued the piss out of someone who accused him of having "other qualities." (As we recall, those alleged "other qualities" included a penchant for ass-fucking, and were evidently completely unfounded, as Mr. Cruise handily won his suit). As we all know, Cruise recently fired his publicist, rottweiler-to-the-stars Pat Kingsley, in May. She was replaced by his sister, Lee Anne Devette, and we're willing to bet that half of this is Page Six stirring Ms. Devett's waters, so to speak.

Really, I think the issue is that it's just hard to be scared of someone named Lee Anne. Sure, Page Six was scared of a big loud woman named Pat. But Lee Anne? You picture her in a sundress in Arkansas, with red dust coating her bare ankles as she strolls through the cotton.

Also: Tom Cruise is totally short. And he probably coughed on Page Six honcho Richard Johnson's knee in an elevator once, or spiked a story, or said something about one of their moms, and now they're out for blood.
What Does The NY Post Have Against Cruise? [Romenesko]
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