“If the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs.”
George Clooney can empathize with Tom Cruise. After the Mission: Impossible 7 star and co-producer absolutely went in on crew members for violating COVID-19 safety guidelines, Clooney has offered his take on the situation.
When Clooney was asked about Cruise barking at two crew members, “you’re fucking gone,” if they got closer than six feet one more time, the Ocean’s Eleven star said he totally gets it.
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“He didn’t overreact because it is a problem,” Clooney told Howard Stern. “I have a friend who’s an AD on another TV show who just had the almost exact same thing happen with not quite as far out a response.”
While Clooney said, “it’s just not my style to, you know, to take everybody to task that way,” he thinks the message behind Cruise’s angry rant was a solid one.
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In an audio recording of the incident obtained by The Sun, Cruise is heard yelling, “I’m on the phone with every fucking 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 motherfuckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”
“I wouldn’t have done it that big. I wouldn’t have, you know, pulled people out,” Clooney said, adding, “I understand why he did it. He’s not wrong at all about that. You know, I just, I don’t know that I would have done it quite that personally, but I don’t know all the circumstances.”
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While it’s unclear whether or not this was the first time Cruise saw the two crew members infringing on the mandatory six-feet distance between them, Cruise said in his scolding he was looking out for “the people who are losing their fucking homes because our industry is shut down.”
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“[Sorry is] not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education,” he screamed. “That’s what I sleep with every night — the future of this fucking industry! So I’m sorry, I’m beyond your apologies.”
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Even though Clooney would have taken a different approach, he agrees with Cruise about the consequences of any COVID-19 safety protocol violation. “You’re in a position of power and it’s tricky, right?,” he explained. “You do have a responsibility for everybody else and he’s absolutely right about that. And, you know, if the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs. People have to understand that and have to be responsible.”
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Clooney had a message of his own, too: “It’s been a shit year and we’re gonna get through it. These vaccines are going to take hold. Hang in there, we’ve got a couple more months to get through it. Don’t bail on it now, we’re going to all get through this thing together, and put on a fucking mask.”
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For more information on how to protect others and yourself during the pandemic, visit the CDC’s website.
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