Tom Cruise has a reputation for acting strangely in interviews, especially when it comes to his controversial lifestyle and opinions on psychiatry. He had his hyper, jumping-on-the-couch moment on Oprah, a heated discussion with Matt Lauer, and a series of other tensed and weird interactions with the press. But it's what the actor says that gets him in trouble most of the time. Before the infamous altercation with Lauer, the Mission Impossible star had made a critical statement about Brooke Shields' choices to cope with her postpartum depression.
The actress took to The New York Times to address the matter. From then on, the two would be on a feud that's now forgotten but not clearly defined throughout the years. Cruise, who recently returned his Golden Globes amid corruption claims, issued a "PR apology" to Shields. The Blue Lagoon star was also invited to the actor's wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006. But was it all formality in honor of the bride's request or have the two Hollywood A-listers really buried that hatchet? Here's everything we know about their relationship.
Their Relationship Prior To The Feud
Cruise and Shields were co-stars in the hit 1981 romantic drama, Endless Love. It was the actor's film debut while the 15-year-old actress was already a critically acclaimed lead. Prior to the box office hit, she'd already played a child prostitute in the contentious 1978 film Pretty Baby and was the youngest fashion model, at 14, to ever grace the cover of Vogue.
In addition to that, Shields was already on major Calvin Klein ads and had starred in the sensuous Blue Lagoon opposite Playgirl model, Christopher Atkins, in 1980. Nothing's written about whether Cruise and Shields developed a close friendship on the set of Endless Love. But before their public spat, they were very much on good terms. That's why it came out as a random attack that fans, the media, and Shields herself felt was completely out of line.
A Timeline Of Their Feud
In 2005, Cruise made remarks against Shields' use of antidepressants for her postpartum depression which she had openly discussed in her memoir, Down Came the Rain (also published that year). The Jack Reacher actor told Access Hollywood, "when someone says [medication] has helped them, it is to cope, it didn’t cure anything. There is no science. There is nothing that can cure them whatsoever."
As a member of the Church of Scientology, the Risky Business star is forbidden to take any kind of "mind-altering" substance. That's why he suggested that women should rely on "vitamins and exercise" instead. He added, "I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented woman, [but] look at where has her career gone." Yes, it went that far.
In an op-ed piece titled "War of Words," the actress responded, "Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them." Shields admitted to thinking about overdosing on pills and jumping out of the window during the worst times of her postpartum depression. A doctor gave her a prescription for an antidepressant after linking her condition to dips in estrogen and progesterone levels.
The True Nature Of Their Relationship Today
In 2006, Cruise apologized to Shields. It was a year late, everyone thought it was just a publicity move, and he still hadn't changed his position about antidepressants. The Suddenly Susan actress shared the details of the apology to Jenny McCarthy on her Sirius XM show in 2016.
"He came over to my house. It was funny because when he called me, he said, 'I'd like to have a sit-down and a talk with you.' I called my publicist, and I said, 'OK, what do I do?' She said, 'Whatever you do, don't go over there. Just make them come to you, and it's on your terms. You don’t have cameras, you don’t know,'" she recalled. She said the Edge of Tomorrow actor came to her home all by himself which made her feel how sincere he was.
That same year, Cruise's then-bride Katie Holmes invited Shields to their wedding in Italy. "She said, 'It just wouldn’t feel right without you there,'" Shields told McCarthy. "And I said 'OK, I'll bring the something old, as long as it’s not me!' And she said, 'would you?'" The actress ended up bringing a vintage enamel compact. "I had no malice in my heart. It was still a wedding," Shields said about attending.