Tom Cruise has replaced his sister with a Hollywood insider as chief handler of his publicity.
The 43-year-old actor hired veteran publicist Paul Bloch, who's also a co-chairman for publicity firm Rogers & Cowan, according to the Daily Variety trade paper. Bloch also will oversee publicity for the actor's production company, Cruise-Wagner Productions.
Bloch replaces Cruise's sister, Lee Anne DeVette, who took over as his publicist in March 2004 after he left longtime representative Pat Kingsley.
"Lee Anne has done a wonderful job on behalf of myself and Cruise-Wagner Productions over the last few years," Cruise said in a statement. "But she has always expressed a desire to oversee and expand the day-to-day activities of my charitable endeavors."
The shake-up comes after Cruise generated some negative publicity earlier this year by criticizing Brooke Shields for taking anti-depression drugs and by berating "Today" co-host Matt Lauer for suggesting that psychiatric treatment might help some patients.
He also created a sensation on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" when he got down on his knees and repeatedly jumped up on the talk-show host's couch, saying his love for Katie Holmes was "beyond cool."
Cruise and Holmes, 26, became engaged in June. She is now pregnant with the couple's first child.