TOM Cruise has been busy in recent weeks talking up a storm while promoting his new flick, The Mummy. However, there is one subject on which the superstar has remained, well, mum — and that’s the latest news regarding his adopted son, Connor Cruise.
According to reports, Connor, 22, has been dating sexy blonde Phylicia Bugna, 26, a surfing and fishing enthusiast who grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla., just a handful of miles from Connor’s current hometown of Clearwater — the headquarters of the Church of Scientology, of which Connor’s dad is the world’s most iconic follower. “Connor and Phylicia have been an under-the-radar couple since meeting earlier this year,” says an insider. “They share a love of the beach and the ocean, but it’s what they don’t share that may be causing some friction within the family. Like his dad, Connor is also a member of the church, but neither Phylicia nor her parents are followers.
“Given that there have reportedly been whispers that Tom himself might one day lead the church — and that he would want his son, in turn, to follow in his footsteps far down the road — the possibility of love leading Connor out of the fold could be exceedingly troubling for his father.”
Phylicia also has a penchant for flaunting racy shots of herself on social media, with what appears to be a “cheeky” special affection for posting numerous photos of herself and her friends in barely-there bikini bottoms. “That’s something that Connor’s mom, [Tom Cruise’s ex-wife] Nicole Kidman, might turn up her nose at,” a source tells Star. “She’s very supportive of Connor, but she could view Phylicia’s antics as being immature and lacking in class.”
ARRESTING BEHAVIOR
Phylicia is a 5-foot-10 bundle of energy — which she’s occasionally had problems channeling. According to multiple public record websites, Phylicia was just 19 years old when she was arrested by officers with the St. Petersburg Beach Police Department at 2:48 a.m. on the morning of April 30, 2010, and charged with one misdemeanor count of battery.
The case was apparently dismissed when Phylicia agreed to enter a pretrial intervention program, after which the official police and Pinellas County (Fla.)Court records of the incident, arrest and court case may have been expunged from the system. Phylicia has also received numerous traffic citations through the years for infractions including speeding, careless driving and running a stop sign and multiple red lights.
More troubling to Tom and Nicole, however, could be the background of Phylicia’s parents. Robert and Kimberly Bugna have twice declared bankruptcy; Robert was arrested in 2006 after Kimberly accused him of domestic battery (she later dropped the charge); he was arrested later that year for DUI, pleaded guilty and was rearrested after violating his probation; and he pleaded “no contest” in 2007 to a misdemeanor charge of “obtaining property in return for [a] worthless check.”
While Connor is obviously free to live his own life, the source tells Star, “At some point, I think Tom would step in if he felt the relationship with Phylicia didn’t fit into the bigger picture that Tom has for his son. It could certainly turn into an uncomfortable situation.”
