Tom Cruise spoiling Suri, says the Katie Holmes camp - Chicago Sun-Times

By Bill Zwecker August 1, 2012 11:02PM

US actor Tom Cruise leaves his hotel carrying daughter Suri for her gymnastics class on July 17, 2012 in New York, NY. Fairytale Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes last month announced they were calling it quits after five years of marriage, ending an unexpected love story dogged by tabloid rumors. AFP PHOTO / Mehdi Taamallah (Photo credit should read MEHDI TAAMALLAH/AFP/GettyImages)

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Updated: August 1, 2012 11:03PM

A t this point, the relationship between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise is said to be quite civil, but friends of the actress are expressing concern â€" focusing on the way Cruise is going overboard as he lavishes intense attention, gifts and special trips on the couple’s young daughter, Suri.

From the helicopter trip to pal Steven Spielberg’s Hamptons estate for a swimming party, to that private jet down to Disney World for Suri’s personal costume soiree as the Little Mermaid, to all the toys and fancy clothes he’s gifted her with the past few weeks, Camp Holmes is worried about the impact it’s having on the 6-year-old.

“This is not good,” said a friend of Holmes from Ohio, where her parents still live. “As if Suri wasn’t already spoiled enough, this is only making it worse. … Now she’s demanding only travel on private planes, for God’s sake. She’s just 6. Can you imagine what she’ll be like by the time she’s a teenager, if this keeps up?

“Plus Tom never disciplines her one little bit. Katie is the one who has to do that, and it’s not good for that to be so totally one-sided.”

OFF THE HOOK? The arrest warrant for Cuba Gooding Jr. has been dropped, the Oscar winner’s spokesman saying the New Orleans authorities “are moving swiftly to resolve this misundertanding.”

However, there’s buzz that the bartender at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street is still so angry â€" claiming Gooding physically roughed her up â€" she may be filing suit. The incident reportedly arose after Gooding complained angrily about bar patrons bugging him for photos and autographs â€" and the bartender asked him to leave.

A BIT TENSE: While things couldn’t be better between Jennifer Lopez and boyfriend Casper Smart, that’s supposedly not the case between Smart and J. Lo’s concert tour partner, Enrique Iglesias.

According to those in the know, Smart â€" also a tour choreographer â€" is very jealous of Iglesias, even though a top Lopez source says “there is absolutely nothing that should cause that jealousy. … Jen and Enrique are professional partners and good friends …and that’s it.”

On the other side, Smart also smarts about his dealings with Iglesias â€" who apparently treats him “like the help,” added the source, who said the singer just thinks of Smart as “Jen’s boy toy.”

The Lopez-Iglesias tour hits the United Center on Friday.

MAKIN’ MUSIC: As Mariah Carey works with producer and manager Randy Jackson on an album, Lopez’s “American Idol” judging replacement no doubt will be getting lots of advice from Jackson â€" who reportedly moves to a mentoring role on the long-running talent showcase, after being on the judge’s panel since the beginning. † Several longtime “Idol” observers also are hoping Carey’s reputation as a huge diva will be shelved as Season 12 gets under way. “She could make life tough for anyone on the show she thinks is part of the support staff,” said a veteran Carey expert. STARGAZING: Apparently, as Reese Witherspoon watched her friend and “Water For Elephants” co-star Robert Pattinson go through the public humiliation caused by Kristen Stewart’s cheating, she tracked him down in London and invited him to find some privacy and peace at her Ojai, Calif., ranch retreat.

A big motivation for this comes from the actress’ hatred of the paparazzi â€" and how many intrude so rudely into stars’ private lives.

Witherspoon is one of numerous celebrities who were behind attempts to strengthen California anti-paparazzi laws, inspired by dangerous run-ins she had with photographers at her children’s schools. SEEN ON THE SCENE: After hanging with Katie Couric down in Indianapolis (see facing page), Jimmy Buffett lunched at RL Wednesday â€" not on a “cheeseburger in paradise” but on the super-popular “Red Bar” turkey burgers made from the recipe by eatery owner Ralph Lauren’s wife Ricky, featured in her The Hamptons: Food, Family & History book. … Among those on hand for the ribbon cutting of the new Trackside OTB at Tom DiSanto and Ed Warm’s Joe’s on Weed Street were Arlington Park’s Howard Sudberry, Tony Petrillo and head honcho Dick Duchossois, plus aldermen Walter Burnett and Scott Waguespack.

HOME BASE: A number of readers mirrored the comments made by Bob Clark about the Missy Franklin item Wednesday â€" calling her a Californian. While the Olympic swimming star was born in Pasadena, Calif., she counts herself a Colorado kid; she grew up there, lives in Centennial and attends Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, the site of the tragic movie theater shootings.

GOING PUBLIC: Lana Wachowski, the extremely reclusive transgendered sibling of fellow filmmaker and Chicago native Andy Wachowski, has made a very rare public appearance in a new trailer to promote the Wachowskis’ new movie.

It’s a joint directing effort with Tom Tykwer to boost their “Cloud Atlas” film (being released Oct. 26) â€" based on acclaimed British author Daniel Mitchell’s novel.

Back when the Wachowskis gained fame with their “Matrix” megahits, Lana was known as Larry Wachowski.