Posted on 06/20/2005 7:10:28 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The London premiere of "War of the Worlds" turned into a war of words after Tom Cruise was squirted in the face by a man posing as a reporter.
Four men were released on bail after being arrested and were ordered to return to a police station Monday.
The actor was outside a movie theater in central London's Leicester Square on Sunday doing press interviews when a man squirted him with a water pistol disguised as a microphone, London's Metropolitan Police said.
Cruise initially appeared to laugh at the incident but then asked the prankster: "Why would you do that?"
As the man gave a barely audible excuse, Cruise said: "Do you like thinking less of people, is that it?" The prankster tried to walk away but Cruise reached across the metal barrier, held his arm and said: "Don't run away. That's incredibly rude. I'm here giving you an interview and you do that ... it's incredibly rude."
The actor grew increasingly irritated and told the man: "You're a jerk." Footage of the incident appeared on Sky News TV on Monday.
Police detained the man who squirted Cruise and arrested three other men who filmed the incident. The four were working on a new comedy show for British television station Channel 4 in which celebrities are the targets of practical jokes.
Police released the men on bail several hours later and ordered them to return to a central London police station on Monday, when they may be charged with assault, the police spokesman said.
Actress Katie Holmes, who recently got engaged to Cruise, was at the premiere but not by his side at the time of the incident.
See I would handle it differently. You got these damned body guards around right? I would have them all armed with super squirter water guns and douse these idiots who want to play jokes.
I would make sure also one of the guards handed me my squirt gun and I would make sure the camera had plenty of pics of me shooting and laughing saying "gee this is lots of fun."
"I am no fan of Tom Cruise, but he handled himself extremely well"
I was impressed as well by the clip I saw. It is so rare to see someone from hollywood act like a normal reasoning human in public.
Hmmm... I completely disagree. He gave the idiot with the water toy a good what for, without cussing him out or hitting him. More mature that I would have been at that moment, I tell ya.
I honestly would have kept walking, without uttering a word. But then again I am female and it takes a LOT to get me angry. Most things aren't worth it.
What makes you think Cruise looked like the idiot? Gee, he told the guy off non-violently, then moved on. Where's the "look like an idiot" part? Oh, the part where they squirted him in the face! They got THAT part whether he stood up to them or not.
Besides, he was smart enough to know keeping the perps engaged gave the authorities a chance to arrest them, which they rightly deserved.
We'll have to agree to disagree that engaging this guy in any way was a good idea. The 'right' thing to do is to walk away. Isn't it?
"The 'right' thing to do is to walk away. Isn't it?"
No, I don't agree. Why would ignoring it help? Just another elitist celeb some would say... I just don't bear any strong animus towards Tom Cruise, and I happen to think he's just a decent actor with some silly issues.
This is what Howard Stern, reality television, shock-jocks, et. al have brought us... ::sigh:: Wouldn't it be lovely to have courtesy be the standard behavior of most people?
"...I would have been pretty P.O'd if someone did that to me."
Maverick: "What's your problem, fake journalist?"
Squirtman: "You're everyone's problem. That's because everytime you make a movie, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous."
Maverick: "That's right! Squirt... man. I am dangerous."
This was posted on another website. I thought it was funny.
With all those cameras, what did you think he would do? He knows how to play for the camera. He did make a big deal out of getting squited with water. Wonder what he would have done had it been a pie in the face?
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