Hollywood star Tom Cruise recently faced a volley of jabs from American comedian Judd Apatow at the recently concluded edition of the DGA Awards. A month after Jerrod Carmichael used the Golden Globes stage to mock Tom Cruise for his involvement in the Church of Scientology, Judd Apatow received a few similar hits while presenting the Directors Guild of America Awards, Variety reports. Steven Spielberg hugs and thanks Tom Cruise for saving “Hollywood’s A**” with Top Gun Maverick at the 2023 Oscar nominees’ luncheon (watch video)
The jokes began on the issue of the ‘Top Gun’ star’s size: “The special effects in ‘Maverick’ were so top notch I couldn’t even see the stack of phone books that Tom Cruise was sitting on to reach the flight controls.” “Remember when Tom Cruise jumped up and down on the couch and we all thought, ‘What a lunatic!’ said Apatow, referring to the infamous 2005 incident on The Oprah Winfrey Show.”And now he’s riding a motorcycle off a cliff and BASE jumping and we’re all like, ‘Tom’s fine’!” Oscars 2023: Ali Fazal and Guneet Monga meet Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and others at the Academy Nominee Luncheon in Los Angeles (see images).
“Tom is not well. Someone has to explain something called CGI to him. You’re 60. Calm down,” Apatow said, as quoted by Variety. “But every time he does one of these new stunts, it feels like an advertisement for Scientology. I mean, is that in Dianetics? Because the Torah says nothing about jumping off a cliff.”
But Apatow wasn’t done roasting Cruise. Next, he poked fun at the actor’s family life and his opinions on mental health. “The only thing he seems afraid of is co-parenting and antidepressants,” he said. “I doubled down on my Prozac today just for that. I doubled it! Do you think if Tom Cruise was on antidepressants he would say, ‘I’m not jumping off a friggin’ cliff. I’m rich’!”
Variety goes on to state that Cruise wasn’t Apatow’s only target. At the beginning of his speech, he told the DGA: “People are complaining this year that all five nominees for best director are men. But that’s not correct. One of the nominees is two men.” He was referring to Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who co-directed the A24 comedy All At Once.
He went on to ridicule the duo’s film and the snub from Avatar: The Way of Water, saying: “It must be hard for James Cameron to have made another of the most technically innovative films of all time and then lose on a DGA nomination for two guys who made a movie with a dildo banging.” Both Avatar and Elvis have received plenty of praise this awards season.
“Which is unexpected as they were enjoyed and money made by people,” Apatow added, before making the audience gasp by saying, “I actually saw Elvis as he died: asleep and on the toilet .” Of the film’s star, Apatow said, “Austin Butler still talks like Elvis. Not a bad person to get stuck talking. Unfortunately his next project is The Jerry Lewis Story.”
(The story above first appeared on LatestLY on February 19, 2023 9:31 p.m. IST. For more politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle news and updates, visit our website Latestly.com).
