Are Victoria Canal and Tom Cruise Dating?

By Emily Leibert, a night blogger for the Cut  who specializes in coverage at the intersection of gender and sports, the arts, and our relationship to our bodies

Singer-songwriter Victoria Canal is just as shocked as you are to discover she is apparently in a budding relationship with Tom Cruise. After the Daily Mail and several other tabloids reported the 25-year-old was rumored to be dating the actor, she was forced to clarify on Instagram Monday that she is not entangled with the 62-year-old. If anything, Canal considers him more of a father figure than a potential lover. Yikes!

“Guys, this is literally bonkers, but apparently the tabloids think i am dating tom cruise. i’m deceased,” she wrote in a post, including screenshots of headlines from the Mail, “Page Six,” and more. “Let’s just stop this in its tracks — i’m sorry to bum u out but i am not dating the man, albeit a lovely person & artist. lol never thought I would have to clarify that out loud in my life.”

Canal, who is the protégé of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, went on to praise Cruise as a “respectful and encouraging person and mentor,” not unlike her relationship with Martin, her music teachers, or her dad. According to People, however, she and the Mission: Impossible actor are real-life friends. The two met after Martin brought his mentee onstage during the band’s set at Glastonbury earlier this year as Cruise watched from the VIP tent. Canal has posted her age-gap friend on Instagram before, claiming that bestie Tom flew her and her brother to the Twisters premiere in a helicopter, “lolol.”

At the very least, Canal — who, per People, was born without a right forearm due to a condition called amniotic band syndrome — was thrilled to be referred to as “Spanish-American singer Victoria Canal and not one-armed pianist whose name remains unmentioned!” I guess Cruise really is good for more than just crashing the Olympics and sending expertly curated gifts.