Tom Cruise Defends His COVID Rant From Mission: Impossible Set: 'I Said What I Said'

Tom Cruise is not backing down!

Late last year, the actor made headlines for an expletive-laden tirade against crew members of the latest Mission: Impossible film. They had drawn Tom’s ire for allegedly being too lax with coronavirus safety protocols, and when the action star noticed, he flipped his lid.

If you don’t remember the controversy, well, the rant went a little something like this:

“They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we’re doing. I’m on the phone with every f**king 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**kers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever! … That’s it. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down. We are not shutting this f***ing movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you’re f***ing gone.”

And that’s just an excerpt!

Leaked audio from the intense moment caused debate over Tom’s stance. Some respected his position in taking COVID safety so seriously as the film’s producer, while others pointed out it wasn’t a great way to treat your employees. Plus, the rant reportedly caused many crew members to quit. So does the Top Gun star have any regrets?

Short answer: nope! Reflecting on the incident, he told Empire magazine:

“I said what I said. There was a lot at stake at that point.”

Well damn! Alright then!

He added that the diatribe wasn’t directed at “entire crew.” Instead, he “had the crew leave the set” while he unleashed his rage on “select people.” For the 58-year-old, his anger came from wanting to protect the jobs of the M:I7 crew. He admitted:

“All those emotions were going through my mind. I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief. It was very emotional, I gotta tell you.”

He also pointed out that the film “never shut down again” after that episode, remarking:

“And here we are, continuing to film.”

Well, we can’t argue with the effectiveness, but we still think it’s probably not best to rule by fear on set if you’re the producer and #1 on the call sheet. We’re also glad that the industry has survived to keep people employed, though we wouldn’t necessarily give Tom all the credit for that. In any case, we look forward to being back in movie theaters soon!

[Image via Mario Mitsis/WENN]