Many of Hollywood’s biggest stars were honored at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, and with that, many were present at the Dolby Theatre in LA. However, it didn’t go unnoticed that the Top Gun: Maverick star wasn’t in attendance despite the fact that his film was nominated for six categories and won one.

The reason why Tom Cruise didn’t attend the Oscars was a scheduling conflict. Currently, he’s shooting Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part II in the United Kingdom, and knowing that he puts work ahead of all else, this sounds like a valid reason.

However, according to certain media outlets, there’s more than meets the eye in this story and it involves Cruise’s ex-wife, award-winning actress Nicole Kidman.

Cruise and Kidman met on the set of Days of Thunder after Cruise convinced the producers to make her his co-star in the film. Apparently, he noticed her in the 1989 flick Dead Calm and was eager to meet her in person ever since.

At the time, Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers but the chemistry between him and Kidman was too strong to ignore.

“I had three very strong relationships before I met Tom. But I was never going to get married. Never. But he was just the most incredible, unusual man I’d ever met,” Kidman said.

The two married during a private ceremony which lasted for 30 minutes. Only few people from both sides were invited.

Cruise spoke of Kidman as of the love of his life. “It was that special connection when you recognize your soul mate. She is a person who understands. It was as if a whole new life had started for me,” he told Vanity Fair in 2002.

Kidman was in love with Cruise as much as he was. ”I fell madly, passionately in love. And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life—I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it.’ I was consumed by it, willingly. And I was desperate to have a baby with him. I didn’t care if we were married. That’s what I wish I’d done,” she once said.

The two resembled a match made in Heaven and that is the reason why everyone was left in shock when Cruise filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage.

He cited irreconcilable differences as a reason for his decision.

Kidman was also shocked. She said the divorce wasn’t something she expected and added it came out of the blue.

There were rumors that he called their marriage quits because she refused to become part of the controversial church of Scientology that Cruise is a valued member of.

And now, according to the Daily Mail, Cruise missed the Academy Awards in order to “avoid an awkward run-in.”

“Tom was not there because she (Nicole) was there, and he did not want a run-in,” the source said.

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