Tom Cruise recently had a meltdown on the set of his upcoming movie, Mission: Impossible 7.
An audio recording of Tom Cruise lashing out at two staff members was leaked on Dec. 16.
In the recording, the actor is shouting and cursing at the staff members after seeing them standing close to each other.
Tom Cruise lashing out at ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ staff fake?
Now, In Touch Weekly is claiming that the incident was staged to make Cruise look good. After all, no one knows for sure how the audio recording was leaked when phones are confiscated on set.
“Phones are confiscated on set so only the sound guy could capture that. And he certainly wouldn’t release it,” the source said.
Tom Cruise’s image improved after his highly-publicized meltdown
Since Cruise’s image hasn’t been good in recent years due to his ties with the Church of Scientology, the tabloid claimed that the audio recording is the perfect avenue for him to boost himself.
“Tom’s image has taken a hit over the years. But in the recording, he seems more ‘real’ than ever. It could have been one big PR move,” the source said.
But following Cruise’s rant, five crew members, reportedly, quit. However, it’s still a win for the actor.
And even though there are claims that his rant was staged, the tabloid acknowledged how hard Tom Cruise has worked to keep the project afloat.
“And now he’s coming off as a real-life hero, saving people’s livelihoods. This is the best press he’s gotten in years,” the source said.
The actor stops crew members from apologizing
In the audio recording, Cruise stopped the two crew members from apologizing. Instead, he seemingly gave them a reality check.
“They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their homes because our industry is shut down. That’s what I sleep with every night: The future of this industry. So I’m sorry, I am beyond your apologies. We are not shutting this movie down. That’s it. Am I clear?” Cruise said.
Several celebrities came to Cruise’s defense amid the controversy. George Clooney said that he understands where his fellow actor was coming from.
The View host Joy Behar also said that the outburst of Tom Cruise was justified.
Images used courtesy of Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons and Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons