LATEST: The man at the centre of TOM CRUISE's latest legal battle to clear his name amid gay slurs has come clean and admitted he has never seen a videotape which proves the allegation.

Los Angeles publisher MICHAEL DAVIS admits he had a source who said he had a video which would reveal the actor's gay past but that the contact refused to show Davis the tape. Davis has since scrapped a story about the mystery video, which he planned to run in his free publication BOLD.

News of the tape spread and Davis' interest in it spread - provoking a suit to be filed by BERT FIELDS, Tom Cruise's attorney, for $100 million (£66 million).

The lawsuit stated that Michael Davis claimed he had a tape, and had attempted to sell the tape to the media. Davis, 32, insists he never said he had the videotape in his possession, and now plans a counter lawsuit against Cruise and his legal team for defamatory remarks made against him.

David says, "I never claimed to have a video tape of Tom Cruise, I was just doing my job as a journalist attempting to uncover the truth. I will not confirm that any such tape exists, nor will I deny its possible existence. I understand the right of Tom Cruise to defend his position as a straight Hollywood actor. I just don't feel it's right to attempt to damage or discredit me as a journalist. I did nothing wrong. " (KL/WN/KMW)

Source: WENN