Tom Replaces His Sister

Tom CruiseTom Cruise has found himself a new publicist following months of negative publicity.

Since hiring his sister last year, the Mission Impossible star has encountered a number of jams.

He was accused of staging a fake romance with Katie Holmes to plug his film War Of The Worlds.

And he caused a sensation on The Oprah Winfrey Show when he got down on his knees and repeatedly jumped up and down on the sofa, saying his love for actress Katie was "beyond cool".

He also had a war of words with actress Brooke Shields over his opposition to anti-depressants.

Tom has now hired 43-year-old veteran PR man Paul Bloch in his sibling's lace, according to US mag Variety.

That squirting momentPaul represents the Beckhams, John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone, among others.

In a statement, the actor said his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, had stepped down as his publicist but would still be on Tom's payroll.

"Lee Anne has done a wonderful job on behalf of me and Cruise-Wagner Productions over the last few years, but she has always expressed a desire to oversee and expand the day-to-day activities of my charitable endeavours," he said.

Lee Anne herself added: "I know how important Tom's charitable goals are to him, and I look forward to assisting in raising the profile of the good works that he does on behalf of children's health issues, mentoring, literacy and other social reforms."

Lee Anne, also a Scientologist, took over Tom's PR in March 2004 from his long-time publicist, Pat Kingsley - who went on to represent Brooke Shields.