Tom Cruise Has Angered Numerous Celebrities, Here’s Everyone Who’s Spoken Out Against Him
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Tom Cruise’s public image took a hit in the mid-2000s when he criticized Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants to cope with postpartum depression.
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Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin spoke out against Cruise. Wahlberg condemned his comparison of the treatment of movie stars to the experiences of soldiers, and Baldwin criticized Cruise’s role in gender pay inequality.
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Leah Remini and Lisa Marie Presley, both former Scientologists, have publicly criticized Cruise. Remini called him “devilish” and Presley expressed her dislike for him while discussing her experiences with Scientology.
After decades in the public eye Tom Cruise remains extremely popular with moviegoers of all ages. It’s easy to argue that Cruise is the biggest movie star alive today since virtually everything he’s in is a hit.
There are many actors in Hollywood who praise Cruise, and even the people who criticize him often do so subtly. On the other hand, there are some celebrities who have publicly confronted Cruise despite being so influential in the industry.
7 Why did Brooke Shields speak out against Tom Cruise?
In the mid-2000s, Tom Cruise went through a phase where he was doing more damage to his public image than at any time in his career. In addition to jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, Cruise once smugly criticized people for taking antidepressants during this time, according to People.
Speaking about antidepressants with Matt Lauer in 2005, Cruise called Brooke Shields “irresponsible” for taking them to manage postpartum depression. Cruise went further and assessed Shields’ career, suggesting that taking antidepressants may have played a role in her lack of success at the time.
Not surprisingly, Shields was asked about Cruise’s comments at the time, and she was very forthright. “Tom should remain committed to saving the world from aliens and letting women suffering from postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them.”
Shields later revealed that Cruise apologized to her when she was interviewed by Jay Leno. “[Cruise] came to my house and sincerely apologized to me. And he apologized for dragging me into this whole thing and everything that had happened.
6 Why did Mark Wahlberg speak out against Tom Cruise?
In 2013, TMZ acquired legal documents from a $50 million defamation lawsuit that Tom Cruise had filed against a magazine publisher. According to a TMZ report, Cruise’s testimony appears to have compared the work he did on a film in the Middle East to soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Not surprisingly, the idea of Cruise comparing his treatment as a movie star to fighting soldiers outraged many.
In Cruise’s defense, TMZ’s report appeared to be misleading. During testimony, Cruise’s attorney revealed, the actor was asked if he actually thought working on a film and being a soldier were the same thing. In response, Cruise clarified that he didn’t mean it when he said, “Oh, come on.”
Before it became apparent that Cruise clearly didn’t mean it, Mark Wahlberg was asked about the training he did for the film Lone Survivor. In response, Wahlberg lashed out at actors who would compare their work to what soldiers go through. Although Wahlberg didn’t mention Cruise by name, it was incredibly obvious that he was responding to the Mission: Impossible actor’s perceived comments.
“To have someone sit there and say, ‘My job was just as difficult as the military.’ How dare you do it while sitting in a makeup chair for two hours. I don’t give a shit if your ass breaks. You get to go home at the end of the day. This is what you get to go to your hotel room. You can order your damn chicken.
5 Why did Leah Remini speak out against Tom Cruise?
After many years as a Scientologist, King of Queens actress Leah Remini has left the religion behind. Since then, Remini has apparently made it his life’s work to speak out publicly against Scientology and to give others who have left the religion a chance to do the same.
If Remini had wanted to, she could have spoken about Scientology without mentioning the religion’s most famous advocate. Instead, Remini has chosen to speak very harshly about Tom Cruise. A perfect example of this is Remini’s participation in a 2017 Reddit AMA, where she took on Cruise after being asked if he was a “good person.”
“No! I’ll get straight to the point, no! There’s a public persona of the man looking you straight in the eye, shaking your hand and hugging you and being an attentive person to you, and there’s the person behind the mask who’s a completely different person.”
Remini continued, “Someone might say that we all have that – who we are to the public and who we are behind the scenes, but the people who are around Tom and work for Tom, not even people who are Scientologists , will say that he is “diabolical.”
4 Why did Alec Baldwin speak out against Tom Cruise?
In 2015 and 2018, Alec Baldwin played supporting roles in two Tom Cruise-directed Mission: Impossible films. Years earlier, in 2009, Baldwin was speaking at Elle magazine’s annual Women in Hollywood dinner and awards show when he called Cruise by name.
During his speech, Baldwin was basically saying that Cruise’s greed plays a role in Hollywood’s gender pay gap.
“I think we can even the scales if Tom Cruise dropped his bid by just $29 million. I realize that might be a bit unfair as he’s not here to defend himself and I really don’t want to put this on one man’ , but if I had to that man would be Tom Cruise… I assure you, my salary would make no difference. My annual salary matches the budget for Altoids in one of Tom’s films.”
3 Why did Lisa Marie Presley speak out against Tom Cruise?
From the outside, it seems Lisa Marie Presley is the last celebrity to smack Tom Cruise. After all, Presley wasn’t an actress, so it seems like the two celebrities didn’t have enough reason to interact with each other to have a firm opinion about Cruise.
However, it turns out that the reason Presley spoke out about Cruise is related to Scientology. A former member of the religion, Presley joined the religion after her famous mother did.
Before Presley tragically passed away, she was interviewed by Scientology critic Tony Ortega. During this interview, Presley claimed that the religion’s leader, David Miscavige, became interested in her when she was 25 and inherited her father’s fortune.
“At 25, after I got the inheritance, they started raising me to be that person who goes out and brings everyone else in.” Presley left Scientology, but before that she met Cruise and told Ortega that she couldn’t stand the famous actor .
“I fucking hate Tom[Cruise]. I met him 20 years ago. I said I never want to be in the same room with him again.”
2 Why did Judd Apatow speak out against Tom Cruise?
Judd Apatow, another celebrity unlikely to speak out against Tom Cruise, seems to get along with everyone in Hollywood. Additionally, Apatow doesn’t do the kinds of movies Cruise is typically involved in, so apparently he shouldn’t have any reason to be upset with the actor.
In the past, Seth Rogen revealed that Cruise once tried to talk to him and Apatow about joining Scientology. Still, that doesn’t seem to be enough to inspire Apatow’s incredibly harsh comments about Cruise during a monologue he delivered at the Directors Guild of America in 2023.
At first, Apatow poked fun at Cruise’s height. “The special effects on ‘Maverick’ were so top notch I couldn’t even see the stack of phone books that Tom Cruise was sitting on to reach the flight controls.” Apatow then took off as Cruise bounced around on Oprah Winfrey’s couch. “Remember when Tom Cruise was hopping up and down on the couch and we all thought, ‘What a lunatic!'”
Apatow then spoke about Cruise’s obsession with doing his own stunts, saying it was an indication that something was wrong with the actor. “Tom’s not fine!” Worst of all, Apatow denounced Cruise’s upbringing and comments about antidepressants. “The only thing he seems afraid of is co-parenting and antidepressants.”
1 Why did Mickey Rourke speak out against Tom Cruise?
Ultimately, Tom Cruise is defined by the public as an actor and movie star. However, based on what Mickey Rourke had to say about Cruise when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan in 2022, he has no respect for the Mission: Impossible star as an actor. After Morgan said Cruise would star in the highest-grossing film of 2022, Rourke didn’t hold back.
“It means nothing to me. [Tom Cruise has] I’ve been doing the same part for 35 fucking years. I have no respect for it. I don’t care about money or power. It’s important to me… if I’m watching Al Pacino or Christopher Walken at work, or De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris and Ray Winstone, that’s the kind of actor I want to be. A lot of people have tried to make themselves known as actors.”
Later in the same interview, Morgan bluntly asked Rourke if Cruise was a “good actor.” Since Cruise’s past performances have garnered a lot of praise, it might seem like Rourke would give him that, but he simply replied, “I think he’s irrelevant.”
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