Alex Carson
Tom Cruise is one of the most beloved and successful movie stars of the modern era. For several decades he’s been as reliable as anyone in the world when it comes to delivering at the box office. And his charming personality and intense work ethic have gained him a lot of fans both in and out of the entertainment industry. But at the same time, there are some celebs who he has rubbed the wrong way. Some of that has to do with his association with the cult/religion, Scientology, and some has to do with assorted other reasons. In this video, we’re taking a look at a list of celebs who won’t work with Cruise, and don’t’ think very highly of him. Join Facts Verse, as we present: Celebrities Who Vehemently Hate Tom Cruise!
Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields might seem an unlikely enemy of Tom Cruise, but their feud started when Cruise chastised Shields in the press for seeking help for postpartum depression. This was in 2005, shortly after Brooke had given birth. She, like so many new mothers, suffered from postpartum depression. Shields opened up about how bad her depression was, and how she was able to make use of antidepressants to dig herself out of the hold she was in. This isn’t an uncommon route, and antidepressants have been able to help women all over the world who struggle with postpartum depression. But, for some reason, Cruise decided he needed to weigh in on the situation. In an interview with Access Hollywood, he called into question Brooke’s use of drugs, as well as the truth of her statement that they helped her. He said that whenever someone claims they were helped by medicine, they weren’t actually cured by it. Cruise made outlandish claims like “there is no science” when it comes to psychiatric medicine. He even called Shields irresponsible, saying that he admired her as an actress, but that her career had gone downhill. One can assume he was somehow connecting her multi decade career ups and downs with a 2005 decision she made to get actual help for a medical issue. We’re not sure how that math adds up, but all of Cruise’s claims are rooted in the pseudo-science taught by Scientology. The religion is very anti-psychology, and claim their methods can cure people of disease and psychiatric methods. (As long as you pay them a TON of money too.) Needless to say, Brooke was not pleased to be called out like this by Cruise, especially since she had made the brave move of talking about her mental health publicly. She told People Magazine that Tom should focus on saving the world from aliens, and allow women suffering from depression to make health decisions for themselves. The aliens comment was a reference to the church’s belief in aliens as part of their teachings.
And although the two haven’t worked together since 1981, it seems clear that there will never be a project that includes both of them.
John Travolta
Tom Cruise’s affiliation with Scientology might rub most people the wrong way, especially given the church’s long history of harassment and essentially indentured servitude, but this next feud is with a fellow believer. John Travolta is a longtime advocate of Scientology, and is one of the biggest celebrities they have. But not THE biggest. Reportedly, Travolta has long been intensely jealous of Tom Cruise’s status in the church as the ultimate A-lister. In 2018, Brendan Tighe, a Scientologist who had recently left the church, confirmed this info in an interview with New Idea. He said that Travolta had issues with the fact that Cruise has a direct line to the head of the church, David Miscavige. Reportedly, despite his huge status as a Hollywood celeb, Travolta doesn’t enjoy this type of access to the leader. And this bugs him to no end. In addition, Tighe claimed that Travolta isn’t showered with gifts and free perks in the way that Cruise is. So these all add together to result in Travolta being wildly jealous of Cruise. According to Tighe, the feeling is mutual, and Cruise doesn’t particularly like Travolta in return.
Brad Pitt
The tension between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise doesn’t stem from Cruise’s affiliation to Scientology. It started in 1994, when Tom was already a Scientologist, but perhaps before he was their biggest celeb. Regardless, it appears that the two leading men simply have contrasting personality types. They worked together on the movie Interview With a Vampire, and apparently during production Pitt immediately took a disliking to Cruise. This was affirmed in an interview Pitt gave to Radar Online. In it, he said that Cruise “bugged” him. Part of this had to do with what Pitt saw as their contrasting personalities, which Pitt labeled as being like the North and South Poles. He admitted that there was a point, not long into filming the movie, where he just resented Cruise. According to Pitt, Cruise was the type of person who would approach everyone with a handshake, and act like an alpha. Whereas Pitt is more lowkey. Furthermore, Pitt claimed that Cruise brought with him an underlying sense of competition. This made it hard for them to break down their walls and have any real conversations. They haven’t worked together on a film since, so it appears that either the stars haven’t aligned with their schedules and salary demands, or that Pitt still has no interest in being ‘bugged’ by Cruise on another film set.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg and Tom Cruise have never been on a project together, so their friction didn’t come from an on-set issue like with Brad Pitt. Nor does Wahlberg’s dislike of Cruise have anything to do with Scientology. Instead, Mark took offense at some 2013 comments that Cruise made. According to reports that Wahlberg heard, Cruise had been comparing some of the prep work he was doing for a movie as being as intense as military training. In fact, Cruise took it a step further and reportedly said it had been like seeing actual combat in Afghanistan.
Wahlberg, despite not being a veteran, took offense at the comments. He made that clear in an interview that year with TMZ. While he didn’t call out Cruise specifically, he talked about actors in the broad sense who talk about the rigors of their film prep. He blasted any actor who claims to know what it’s like to be a soldier, especially one in active battle, simply because they did some preliminary SEAL training. Wahlberg didn’t mince words, saying, “How f**king dare you. While you sit in a makeup chair for two hours.” And while Cruise’s name wasn’t said, it came on the heels of Cruise’s claims about his own movie prep being as intense as active warfare, so it seemed fairly clear that Mark was talking about Tom.
In his defense, Cruise (via his publicity team) said that he had been joking when he compared his training to combat. They reiterated that Cruise is a big supporter of the troops.
Either way, it doesn’t seem that Mark Wahlberg would be looking to film anything with Cruise in the future.
Russell Crowe
Australian movie star Russell Crowe has an entirely different reason for not liking Cruise. It had more to do with Nicole Kidman than with Tom. Kidman and Crowe are long time friends, having met long before they both succeeded as Aussie actors in Hollywood. So when Tom broke things off with Nicole and their marriage ended, Russell took Kidman’s side. He felt that Tom treated Nicole very poorly, and that she deserved a lot better. And any friendship that he had with Cruise because of their marriage pretty much dissolved after the split.
At the same time, they did manage to work together on a movie in 2017. They were both in The Mummy, and reportedly had issues on set. One source, who claimed to be in on the situation, said that Russell couldn’t stand Cruise. They pointed out that it all stemmed from the way he felt Tom treated Nicole. So Tom would have had to have been awfully charming to make Crowe change his mind during the filming of The Mummy.
Leah Remini
This one should come as no surprise to anyone who is familiar with Remini’s work over the last few years. She’s been trying to expose the wrongdoings of the church of Scientology, and has garnered the wrath of the organization in doing so. But Remini, a former long-time member, feels it’s important for the public to learn about the terrible things she says the church does. Of course, she’s not alone in those accusations. There have been many people who have left the church over the years and told of their dangerous and misguided practices. Her particular beef with Tom started when she started asking questions about the location of David Miscavige’s wife, Shelly. Shelly hasn’t been seen in public for years, and many believe there has been foul play. Remini asked about this at Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes, and was given a stern scolding from the upper members of the church. Later, when she left the church and released a memoir called, “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” Remini outlined many instances where Cruise’s behavior was far from mature, likening him to a child who has never been told no. Cruise was reportedly livid about Remini’s memoir.
Clearly Tom Cruise as big of a star as anyone in the world of entertainment over the last several decades. And while he generally is seen in a positive light by his millions of fans, there are clearly many celebs who don’t have positive things to say about him.
Now it’s time to hear from you. Did you know about these celebs who can’t stand Tom Cruise? Which one was the most surpring to hear about? Let us know in the comments section below!
