Tom Cruise Breaks His Silence Over Infamous 'Mission: Impossible' On-Set Rant

Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise made headlines in late 2020 when he was caught on tape verbally admonishing some crew members who broke Covid-19 safety protocols, and now the actor is breaking his silence over the infamous on-set rant. Speaking to Empire Magazine, Cruise made it clear he feels no remorse about the incident. "I said what I said," the actor stated firmly.

"There was a lot at stake at that point," Cruise continued, explaining that a "surge" in coronavirus cases in England at the time led him to be very passionate about maintaining a safe set. "But it wasn't my entire crew. I had the crew leave the set, and it was just select people." He went on to share that they are "continuing to film," and that shooting for the seventh Mission: Impossible movie never shut down again." Crusie then joked, "I do Zoom parties and kids' parties also, you know!"

In the leaked audio, Cruise said to the two crew members, "They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. ... I'm on the phone with every f—ing studio at night, insurance companies, producers. They are looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf—ers."

He continued, "If I see you do it again, you're f—ing gone. And if anyone on this crew does it, that's it — and you too and you too. And you, don't you ever f—ing do it again. 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. So I am sorry I am beyond your apologies. I have told you and now I want it and if you do it you're out! We are not shutting this f—ing movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you're f—ing gone."

Cruise concluded his rant by saying, "Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason. And if you can't be responsible and I can't deal with your logic, you're fired. That's it."

Elaborating further on what he was thinking and feeling at the time, Cruise shared with Empire that he was very focused on how covid-related shutdowns were impacting everyone in his profession. "All those emotions were going through my mind. I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry," he explained. "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."