Ah, but you’re missing the point. This wasn’t a staged gag on an unsuccessful actor who needed publicity. This was a staged gag on a successful actor who needed DIFFERENT publicity. Namely, to convince people that he’s not a total fruitcake (the Oprah appearance, Brooke Shields comments, marrying Katie after a few weeks of dating), but to get them to see him as a poor, put-upon victim who’s really a nice, levelheaded guy (squirted with water, but reacts with dignity, not face-punching).
And you’re 100% wrong that this would make him foolish. On the contrary, the FIRST THING out of Soledad O’Brien’s mouth was, “I actually have to say, I have a whole new opinion of Tom Cruise after this incident. [PLAYS VIDEO OF CRUISE’S REACTION] … I gotta say, he showed incredible self-restraint …”
(look under “MORE ENTERTAINMENT VIDEO” and select “90 Second Pop: Cruise prank”)
Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio has to get stitches after being whacked in the face with a bottle…but everyone’s worried about poor widdle Tommy having to deal with a few squirts of water.
If someone squirted me with an unknown liquid, the first think I’d do is find out what the heck I was squirted with. And I’m not talking about the possibility of battery acid or ebola. I mean finding out if I was squirted with water or milk or india ink or whatever. If my kid suddenly has a big wet spot on his pants, I’m immediately going to try to determine if he spilled his apple juice or if his diaper leaked. If I’m walking down the street in NYC and I feel something wet drop onto my head, the first thing I’d do is check to see if it was just a drip from an overhanging air conditioner, or wheter a bird pooped on my head.
Total set-up, designed to show him reacting in a calm way.
(I originally had a typo in that final sentance. It said “…designed to show him reacting in a clam way.” Hee hee!)
It wasn’t staged, geez. Must there be a conspiracy in everything? Yeah, it makes sense that Cruise and his “handlers” were sitting around trying to figure out how in the world they were going to improve Tom’s image. “I have an idea” said one. “Let’s put Tom in a situation where he can seem the good guy.” “Excellent idea, maybe he could help a charity or give a reasonable interview or…” “Or get squirted with water and react calmly and rationally.” “Bingo!”
I’m actually surprised that so many seem willing to think that it was staged. Despite the fact they were arrested, despite the fact that Channel 4 admitted it, and despite the fact it makes no sense.
I’ve never been a huge Tom Cruise fan, but the guy seems like he’s just trying to get by. I’ve never heard stories of him being a jerk, loony tunes, sure, but not a jerk. I thought his reaction was excellent and spoke very well about him as a person. Not only did he not resort to a violent outburst or run away with his bodyguards, but he rationally tried to explain to the jagoff who did it what was wrong with what he did. Kudos to Tom.
Come on. If Camp Cruise was gonna stage anything along these lines, I’m sure they would’ve set it up so that poor Katie was the one sprayed with water. Then Tom could’ve come to her rescue and called the guy a “jerk,” placed a towel around Katie’s shoulders and gently led her away.
I’ll repeat: I think the incident was legit and that Cruise, as much of a brainwashed whackjob I happen to think he is, handled it graciously and let his displeasure known without totally losing it. He DOES seem to be genuine when it comes to accomodating his fans. You gotta give him that much.
But consider this: What kind of publicity would he get if it came to light that he’d staged something so stupid? And at this point, if it’s true that it was staged, how many people have to be in on it? The pranksters, the people at Channel 4, his bodyguards.
Assuming that it was staged, how much do you think a tabloid would pay for the story of how Tom Cruise set up a fake water attack just to make himself look good? How much would he have to pay all those people in order to make it not worth their while to go to a tabloid with the real story? And, most importantly, how stupid would Tom Cruise have to be to set up a fake like that, knowing that if the real story got out it would make him look infinitely worse than he looked before trying to repair his image with the fake attack?
I’m no fan of Tom Cruise, I think he’s a nutcase with that Scientology crap, but I don’t think he’s stupid enough to fake something like this, knowing the risk he’d be taking should it get known that he faked it.
I haven’t even seen the incident, but but as far as that goes you could actually do it with just two people; Cruise and one person at Channel 4 to tip him off it was going to happen. Maybe one more of his people, if one of them did hand him a towel a little too quickly. The pranksters themselves and most of their producers could be left thinking they just pulled off a great stunt.
As people have pointed out, not the most sensible PR job they could have, but one could argue that he and his sister have been doing a lot of less than sensible things lately, PR wise. At least his previous agent thinks so.
Not that I have a strong opinion one way or the other.
But you ask what is in it for Katie Holmes? My answer is, she is a minor celebrity who’s fame is quickly disappearing. Becoming Mrs. Tom Cruise can do a lot for a person. Who ever heard of Nicole Kidman before she became Mrs. Tom Cruise?
Does this actually mean that the relationship is a sham? Of course not. But don’t think that there isn’t anything in it for her, and that the possibility of being famous might not be enough to make her enter into a sham marriage. What more enticement would she need after seeing how well it worked out for Nicole?
I don’t think the whole thing was faked, it seems way to stupid. I also don’t think that the marriage is *really * a sham, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be one. And really, what’s the more interesting story. Movie star falls in love and gets married, or closeted gay celebrity goes to ridiculous lengths to hide his homosexuality. Hey, it even has precedent, Rock Hudson did it.
(Maybe its just that deep down there is a part of me that wants to believe that life is really as interesting as it is in movies and tv, but most of me knows that it isn’t.)
This article names Objective Productions as the production company behind the stunt. And they have a solid history of shoddy third-rate comedy, so adding weight to calling the conspiracy theory nonsense.
To those who wondered how his image has been damaged:
He is a grown man, a father, who acted like a fool, jumping up and down declaring his love for Katie Holmes, a much younger woman who he’s dated for less than six months (now they’re engaged already) on the Oprah Winfrey show.
He publicly criticized Brooke Shields for taking drugs to combat a severe case of post-partum depression.
He has been promoting his “religion”, Scientology, a lot lately.
He stole the spotlight from Christian Bale at the opening of Bale’s big movie, “Batman Begins”, which also stars Katie Holmes. (Well, I thought that was really rude).