Reactions to the Tom Cruise leaked audio from the set of “Mission: Impossible 7” has been mixed. The actor-producer was heard reprimanding (i.e. yelling and cursing) a couple of crew members for breaking COVID protocols in front of him. Some say that he was overreacting, while others see it as a producer worried about his production being shut down and the industry being hurt. Consider George Clooney a member of the latter camp.
Speaking on The Howard Stern Show (via EW), Clooney was asked his thoughts about the Cruise rant. And apparently, the actor-turned-filmmaker sides with Cruise, but also thinks he would have approached the situation differently if it was on his set.
“Well, he didn’t overreact, because it is a problem,” Clooney said. “I have a friend who is an [assistant director] on another TV show who just had almost the exact same thing happen with not quite as far out a response.”
READ MORE: Ben Affleck May Star in George Clooney’s Next Drama ‘The Tender Bar’
He continued, “I wouldn’t have done it that big, I wouldn’t have pulled people out, you’re in a position of power and it’s tricky, right? You do have a responsibility for everybody else, and he’s absolutely right about that, and if the production goes down a lot of people lose their jobs. You know, people have to understand that and they have to be responsible. It’s just not my style to take everybody to task that way.”
We have yet to see a ton of fallout (no pun intended) from the “Mission: Impossible” set audio. Obviously, nothing is going to happen to Cruise, as he’s not only the lead and the star of the entire franchise but also the producer that sort of calls the shots on that production. But according to a now-deleted Sun article (via The Daily Beast), five crew members have reportedly quit the “Mission: Impossible” sequel in response to the outburst. Of course, without the original article being live anymore, it’s unclear if this is true or not.
READ MORE: George Clooney’s ‘The Midnight Sky’ Is An Elegiac Apocalypse Without A Story [Review]
Regardless, even responses on social media have been mixed. It’ll be interesting to see if/when Cruise himself makes a statement about the whole situation. We’ll have to see if he actually walks back on the tone and loud nature of the outburst or if he doesn’t actually apologize or show regret at all. We shall see.
