Tom Cruise has filed a second lawsuit against a man who is alleged to have spread rumours that the pair had a gay affair.

Papers filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court allege that Michael Davis released to the media: "False and defamatory written statements about the plaintiff (Cruise), including the false assertion that Doe 1, an unnamed male, had engaged in an illicit homosexual relationship with the plaintiff during plaintiff`s marriage and that this was recorded on videotape."

The suit accuses Davis of spreading the rumours "in order to hurt the plaintiff and to gain widespread publicity for himself". Cruise’s legal representatives say that the actor “will suffer very substantial personal and professional damages". The suit is attempting to retrieve $100 million (£70 million) in damages.

Davis denies the charge. He said that none of the media groups contacted had gone public with the rumour “because they all know it is false”.

Davis is a resident of Los Angeles County. The suit states that Davis is not his real name but that his true name is “unknown to the plaintiff”. Davis is the only defendant but several other nameless indivduals have been cited, as is usual with such cases, in case there is more than one person involved.

Last month Cruise filed an anti-defamation suit against Kyle Bradford, an “erotic wrestler” also known as Chad Slater, for alleging that they had maintained an affair.