Jan
3

Stiller Defends Cruise After Paramount Furor

Ben Stiller has spoken out in defense of Tom Cruise, insisting it was “wrong” for Paramount Studios to axe its deal with the superstar last year.

Meet the Parents star Stiller insists Paramount boss Sumner Redstone should never have sacked Cruise after blaming his couch-jumping appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show for embarrassing the studio and hampering the box office performance of Mission: Impossible III. And Stiller also believes Hollywood’s highest earners deserve their staggeringly high salaries.

He says, “Studios don’t pay out of the kindness of their heart. It’s all an equation to them. That’s all.
“At the end of the day there is only one Tom Cruise and it might be that whoever is paying the stars goes, ‘Well, we don’t necessarily need to pay that much.’
“But I think it was wrong for Sumner Redstone to go after Tom like that. It was out of left field.
“For the most part, Hollywood will stop paying the stars when it stops making sense to them to pay the stars. And they don’t pay anybody a cent over what it’s worth to them. It’s not like you see these studios losing money.” (Hollywood.com)

He’s got a point, doesn’t he?!

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January 3, 2007   //   General   //   10 Comments   //  

10 Comments to “Stiller Defends Cruise After Paramount Furor”

• January 03, 2007 at 4:24 pm
  Kalista Brat says:

  I agree with Stiller I think Tom Cruise is worth it and I’m glad Ben Stiller doesn’t work for Paramount cause ever since TC cut ties I have not watched a movie from Paramount conciously. I think of Paramount as an evil company.
• January 03, 2007 at 9:28 pm
  Lili says:

  Ben Stiller is a big fan of Tom. He appears in one of the Extras in the MI-2 DVD, called “Mission improbable” and it is so funny! He even looks a lot like Tom in it. And he is so right too, the studios pay the A-listers big salaries not from the goodness of their heart but because they are worth it. Tom said it in an interview a couple of years ago:” they pay me $20 millions because I am worth it. If some day they feel i am not, they will bring the figure down.”
  Paramount (Sumner at least) made a big mistake, no one can replace Tom Cruise, certainly not Brad Pitt who now has his own producing company on the Paramount lot. How many of his movies has made over $100 millions in the past??
• January 03, 2007 at 10:01 pm
  Colleen Hippler says:

  I never liked Ben Stiller before now, but I sure like him now. He makes great sense and I agree with him 100 % RIGHT. WAY TO GO BEN STILLER. I AM NOW A GREAT FAN NOW!!!!!
• January 04, 2007 at 10:00 am
  rainey says:

  I want to thank Ben Stiller, finally somebody openly said what so many in Hollywood are thinking There is only one Tom Cruise, Tom Cruise who creates magical performances, Tom Cruise who gives his heart and sout to every thing he does, Tom Cruise the humanitarian, the loving famaily man and Tom Cruise who’s movies have made billions, has worldwide fans that love and adore him. Sumner Redstone is nothing but a grumpy old fart with no sense of humor. Keep believing in the magic and keep smiling!!!
• January 04, 2007 at 1:54 pm
  Bandari says:

  Ben Stiller is good friends with Tom Cruise and I appreciated the way he defended him after last year’s incident with Paramount because he made more money than any actor in their studios.
  Thank you Ben for being for speaking out the truth.
• January 04, 2007 at 2:10 pm
  Nancy says:

  Tom Cruise is the best and his movies are
  certainly the best I go to see. I am never
  dissappointed when I come out of the theatre.
  That’s why I am a fan and collector of his
  moves.

  I wish him all the best at his new studio.
  Eat your heart out Sumner (who?) Paramount
  loses!
• January 04, 2007 at 4:17 pm
  Diggs says:

  Ben Stiller is great his movies crack me up! I love Tom and I appreciate Ben Stiller for saying this!
• January 04, 2007 at 7:44 pm
  Agnes says:

  I did not know that Brad Pitt was with paramount . It does make sense now, maybe they did not want the two of them in the same studio. Brad Pitt makes me sick, he is trying too hard to surpass Tom. I do not like him. Along with Angelina they really think they are royalty for real.
• January 07, 2007 at 5:29 am
  Judith Downing says:

  I didnot know Brad Pitt was connected to paramount but I do not thing it matters, There is a enough work for both him and Tom (although I’d rather watch Tom he’s gorgeous to look at and talented ) But I think any company that casts aside an artist who on his own brings 1]3 of its income must be crazy. Not that Tom will now he has united artists.
• January 07, 2007 at 5:13 pm
  Maria says:

  That was so wrong what Paramount did to Tom an injustice. But at the end of the day Tom is still a great actor and it’s Paramount’s loss.