Nicole Kidman debunks viral Tom Cruise divorce celebration meme

Nicole Kidman has set the record straight on an infamous photo widely believed to have been taken after she finalised her divorce from Tom Cruise.

A 2001 snap of the Big Little Lies actress walking outside with outstretched arms with a relieved look on her face has long circulated online, with social media users often using the meme to express the emotion of making it through a tough situation.

While it was previously thought the photo was taken after Nicole signed the divorce papers to end her union to Tom in 2001, during an interview for the December 2024 issue of British GQ magazine, she insisted "that's not true".

"That was not me; that was from a film, that wasn't real life. I know that image!" the 57-year-old declared, without specifying the movie the still is from.

Nicole and Tom were married from 1990 until 2001, during which time they adopted two children - Isabella, 31, and Connor, 29.

The Australian star has been wed to country singer Keith Urban since 2006, with the couple sharing daughters Sunday Rose, 16, and Faith Margaret, 13.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Nicole admitted she is aware she appears in other popular memes, such as the photo taken of her at the 2017 Academy Awards in which she is seen trying to clap with only the palms of her hands.

"I've also seen the one where I'm clapping like that. 'Cause I had a massive heavy borrowed ring on and it was really painful, and I was scared of wrecking the jewellery. Ha! There's always something behind the actual images that go out there, right?" she smiled.

In addition, Nicole noted that she doesn't mind the meme which stemmed from her 2021 AMC advertisement in which she made a plea for people to go back to the cinema following the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I'll do anything for cinema, so you can meme me as much as you want," the Oscar-winning actress joked.