Seth Rogen Describes Bizarre Experience With Tom Cruise Years Ago

Seth Rogen revealed an insane Hollywood story on Monday about an encounter between him, Tom Cruise and Judd Apatow. The story is apparently included in-depth in Rogen’s new memoir Yearbook, but he shared a preview in an interview with Howard Stern. According to Rogen, it started with Cruise inviting him and Apatow to come over to his home sometime in 2006.

“There was this very weird period, where he had had his child, but no one had seen his child and there was genuine speculation as to whether the child was real,” Rogen explained to set the scene. He said this meeting took place about a year after Cruise’s infamous declaration of love for Katie Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show. It also while Cruise was filming Knocked Up with Apatow, explaining their social connection. “I remember meeting this baby, being like, ‘This poor baby doesn’t know she’s like the most talked about person on the planet.’ Which is a lot of pressure,” Rogen said.

Rogen said that he and Apatow met Cruises family, but did not get around to discussing comedy or potential projects together. Instead, Cruise began to confide in them about his involvement with the Church of Scientology, and his suspicions about publicity wars between the church and other entities.

“He said, ‘I think the pharmaceutical industry is making me look bad,’” Rogen recalled. “‘It’s like with Scientology,’ he said, ‘If you let me just tell you what it was really about… just give me like 20 minutes to, like, really just tell you what it was about, you would say, ‘No f—ing way. No f—ing way.’”

Rogen said that things almost got awkward, but thankfully Apatow was able to redirect Cruise without offending him. He said he was “relieved” he wasn’t at the meeting alone, believing he wouldn’t have been able to do it alone. “Thank god Judd was like, ‘Eh, I think we’re good. Let’s just talk about movies and stuff. If I was there alone, I would be singing a very different tune right now,” he said.

The full story is told in Yearbook, Rogen’s new collection of personal essays published on Tuesday, May 11. The book is available here on Amazon in print, digital and audiobook formats. It draws on Rogen’s meandering creative path and professional triumphs, as well as his well-documented friendships and personal connections in the entertainment industry.

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