- Leaked audio published by the newspaper The Sun on Tuesday revealed that Tom Cruise went on a profane rant at employees on the set of "Mission: Impossible 7," apparently after some workers broke
COVID-19 safety rules. - Reaction to Cruise's expletive-filled tirade has been mixed, with some praising the actor for taking the rules so seriously and other calling his reaction "over the top," criticizing his treatment of colleagues.
- Some fans thought Cruise was channeling his "
Tropic Thunder " character, Les Grossman, an angry, sweary producer who yells at people whenever things don't go his way.
Fans are torn between praising
Audio of Cruise's rant was released by the newspaper The Sun on Tuesday. It's unclear when it took place, but reports indicated it was prompted by some workers' standing too close together on the film set.
Cruise threatened to fire anyone who broke COVID-19 safety rules again and impressed upon them that movies were only able to be made again because they were the "gold standard."
"I'm on the phone with every f---ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers, and they're looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf---ers," Cruise said.
The reaction to this leaked audio has been mixed with praise, ridicule, and scorn being given to Cruise in equal measure.
John Rocha, the YouTuber who founded The Outlaw Nation, tweeted: "THIS. IS. GODDAMN. BEAUTIFUL. I wish MORE people in charge would react like this to people who violate protocols or not wearing masks. If only more people saw the bigger picture that Tom is highlighting here. Good on @TomCruise. Thanks for setting an example on this, sir!"
—John Rocha (@TheRochaSays) December 16, 2020
The Twitter user @BurnettRM said they'd become an even bigger Cruise fan after this audio: "I loved Tom Cruise since I first saw RISKY BUSINESS opening night in 1983. Listening to this...I love him even more now."
—Robert Meyer Burnett (@BurnettRM) December 16, 2020
Dennis Tzeng, @ThinkHero, didn't want Cruise to stop at just those on the film set: "Now he just needs to come back to America and yell at every single anti-masker."
—Dennis Tzeng (@ThinkHero) December 16, 2020
@ItsDHANI didn't think Cruise had gone hard enough: "Those who are not following Covid guidelines are the toxic people on the planet. Gambling with everyone's life and business is not acceptable. Trust me he was soft on them. If I were him they were already gone."
—धानी (@itsDHANl) December 16, 2020
Others, however, didn't quite get why Cruise was being hailed for his profane monologue, with one writing that "no one should be praising or laughing about how #TomCruise is heard behaving on that audio."
That Twitter user, @karlbooton, continued: "What it reveals is what we've known for a Long time, he's: An ego-maniac. Narcissist. Innate sense of Superiority. Controlling.. Fierce temper. Abuse of power. He sounds deranged on it."
—Karl Booton (@karlbooton) December 16, 2020
The Daily Beast's Marlow Stern even wrote a piece titled "Stop Praising Tom Cruise for Berating His Crew," with the tagline "The Hollywood superstar-and leading Scientologist-was merely punching down and putting on a show."
In his piece, Stern argued that it was never acceptable to "curse out and threaten your subordinates" in the workplace and drew attention to Cruise's controversial faith in Scientology.
Back on Twitter, a user named Tom Smith said Cruise's reaction was "over the top," and suggested he wouldn't have exactly been happy had Cruise spoken to him that way: "Above your station your no better than anyone else. I'd of kicked your arse back to the states if I worked with you and you talked to me like that, over the top reaction!!!! Could of just said, come on lads move away from each other, but no, massive rant."
—Tom smith (@Tomsmit14016962) December 16, 2020
@tilda344 also agreed that Cruise's rant needn't have been so loud or profane, writing that "the so called 'speech' could have been done more politely."
She continued: "I've noticed that with some celebrities, they really do think that just because they made it, they can talk to you anyhow. They get spoiled too and I think it goes into their heads."
—tilda21 (@tilda344) December 16, 2020
Some other fans were reminded of one of Cruise's own movie characters.
—Roguespartan (@themegafish) December 16, 2020
In "Tropic Thunder," Cruise played a foul-mouthed film producer named Les Grossman who clearly had some anger issues to work on. And it seems that some think Cruise channeled Grossman with this COVID-19 rant.
@jackjujitsu said he could "imagine Les Grossman yelling this with a diet coke in his hand."
—Bad Jack™ (@jackjujitsu) December 16, 2020
—AJ Diaz (@AJ_Diaz79) December 16, 2020
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