Tom Cruise is a real jerk

[Big Magilla]

Bacall Rips Cruise's 'Vulgar' Behavior 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Lauren Bacall has a few unkind words to say about Tom Cruise. In an interview in the Aug. 8 issue of Time magazine, now on newsstands, the 80-year-old actress says, "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise."

"His whole behavior is so shocking," she says. "It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it's kind of a sickness."

Bacall was alluding to Cruise's displays of emotion and public courting of Katie Holmes in the weeks leading up to the release of his new film, "War of the Worlds." Cruise and Holmes became engaged in June after he proposed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Last fall, Bacall made similar remarks about Cruise's ex-wife Nicole Kidman, her co-star in "Birth." While promoting the movie, Bacall became irritated when an interviewer described Kidman as "a legend."

"She's not a legend," Bacall said. "She can't be a legend at whatever age she is. ... You have to be older."

"Private Screenings: Lauren Bacall" and a marathon of Bacall's films were to air Monday on TCM.

[anonymous1980]

Here's an interesting item at the IMDb news concerning those rumors between Tom Cruise and Rob Thomas:


Thomas Slams Reports He Seduced Cruise

Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas has rubbished reports he had sex with Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise - and is even more mortified he's been labeled a fellow Scientologist. The singer is horrified by claims he was caught in bed with the War Of The Worlds star and has finally spoken out to end the rumors. But he's even more offended by reports he's joined Cruise and other followers of L. Ron Hubbard's Church Of Scientology, which has been labeled a "cult" by some critics. He says, "If I were gay, Tom wouldn't be on the top of my list...It would be Brad Pitt. I'm more offended by the rumors saying I'm Scientologist."



:laugh:

[Reza]

All You Didn't Want to Know About Tom Cruise - A site:


http://tomcruiseisnuts.com/

[Penelope]

This story has moved beyond pathetic; I really wish Katie's family would stage an intervention.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The future Mrs. Tom Cruise has already tried on at least one wedding gown.

Katie Holmes appears in the August issue of W magazine posing in a Comme des Garcons wedding dress and continuing to gush about her fiance. The couple, who went public with their relationship in April, haven't announced a date for their marriage.

"Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase," Holmes says in W, on newsstands July 22. In the interview, a theme emerges with many similar comments, including "Tom is the most incredible man in the world."

Cruise, 42, and Holmes, 26, became engaged last month after the "War of the Worlds" star proposed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Holmes, who co-stars in "Batman Begins," has said she's taking lessons in Cruise's faith of Scientology.

"I'm learning to celebrate my own spirit, my own being," she says.

During the W interview, the actress wouldn't part from Jessica Rodriguez, who is described as her "Scientologist chaperone." Rodriguez's role in Holmes' life remains vague, though Rodriguez says they're "just best friends" since meeting around the time Holmes met Cruise.

"You adore him," Rodriguez told Holmes when the actress was at a loss for words to describe her love.

Not to forget their day jobs, Holmes says she wants to make a movie with Cruise.

"That would be such an honor," she says. "Such an honor."

[Sonic Youth]

Another blind item from Page 6 of the New York Post:

"WHICH leading man landed his fiancée by giving her a five-year contract for $10 million? Now, she's giving an Oscar-worthy performance acting as if she's really in love with him . . ."

Hmm, let me think...

Compared to Michael Musto, Page 6 is the baby crossword puzzle of blind items.

[Penelope]

N.J. Governor Comes to Shields' Defense Sun Jul 3, 3:55 PM ET

Actress Brooke Shields has an ally in her war of words with Tom Cruise over her use of prescriptions drugs to treat postpartum depression: New Jersey's acting governor.

"Tom Cruise knows as much about postpartum depression as I do about acting, and he should stick to acting and not talk about women who need help," said Richard J. Codey, whose wife, Mary Jo, has struggled with the illness.

Cruise criticized Shields for taking antidepressants, and became particularly passionate about the issue in an interview on "Today." Cruise is a follower of Scientology, which teaches that psychiatry is a destructive pseudo-science.

Cruise said there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be corrected with drugs, and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins. Shields has called that "a disservice to mothers everywhere."

Mary Jo Codey, 49, a kindergarten teacher, has openly discussed her struggles with postpartum depression, speaking about the ordeal that started when she was diagnosed 28 years ago.

During a public appearance last fall, Mary Jo Codey told of driving to a pharmacy four towns away from her home to fill a prescription for antidepressants. She said she "wore dark sunglasses and prayed really hard to God that no one would see me."

[Big Magilla]

It's nice to see the N.Y. Times giving opt-ed space to Brooke Shields, but the N.Y. Times opt-ed page does not have an iota of the general audience the Oprah and Today shows have. Why is the Today show and every other silly talk show not rushing to give Ms. Shields the same highly publicized time it gave Mr. Cruise? Does she have to make a movie for Mr. Spielberg to get that kind of attention? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Penelope]

Saw this today and had to share:

Imagine The Possibilities For Dr. Cruise

Larry Carey
Tampa Tribune

I wish I had known that I could have learned psychiatry and psychopharmacology by reading the history of the subjects. It would have avoided a lot of unnecessary study in medical school and prepared me to practice a specialty in addition to surgery.

It probably would be possible to learn surgery the same way. Just read a little history, watch a few videos about how to operate, buy a set of instruments and go to it.

Anesthesia could be administered by my wife, who read the history of the field and got a used anesthesia machine from eBay.

It is truly awe-inspiring that a movie performer (note the absence of actor in the description) has mastered psychiatry and the treatment of postpartum depression with such remarkable ease. Think of all the time and money we will be able to save when the Tom Cruise Schools of Advanced Medicine open up around the country.

It will be interesting to learn sophisticated treatment of heart disease in a few evenings at home with a few old history books and some instructional tapes.

This approach to education could be expanded to other areas. I aspire to become an expert in corporate law. No doubt there are equally informative sources of information at the library that will provide all the instruction needed to get a job as corporate counsel for General Motors.

Another line of work that has always interested me is space exploration. Just imagine the thrill of launching one of those babies after reading a couple of books and sending your résumé to NASA.

The real tragedy is the trivialization of an illness as potentially devastating as postpartum depression and those who have suffered through it.

My next career will be as a motion picture star, in preparation for learning to build superhighways. It does not seem there is any study necessary for a career in movie performing.

I will need in little help in my couch-leaping tumbling, but not in the intellectual area, except for perhaps scheduling to have a portion of my brain removed.

Larry Carey is a medical educator and surgeon living in south Tampa.

[Penelope]

Here's Brooke's editorial:

July 1, 2005
War of Words
By BROOKE SHIELDS
London

I WAS hoping it wouldn't come to this, but after Tom Cruise's interview with Matt Lauer on the NBC show "Today" last week, I feel compelled to speak not just for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered from postpartum depression. While Mr. Cruise says that Mr. Lauer and I do not "understand the history of psychiatry," I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression is caused by the hormonal shifts that occur after childbirth. During pregnancy, a woman's level of estrogen and progesterone greatly increases; then, in the first 24 hours after childbirth, the amount of these hormones rapidly drops to normal, nonpregnant levels. This change in hormone levels can lead to reactions that range from restlessness and irritability to feelings of sadness and hopelessness.

I never thought I would have postpartum depression. After two years of trying to conceive and several attempts at in vitro fertilization, I thought I would be overjoyed when my daughter, Rowan Francis, was born in the spring of 2003. But instead I felt completely overwhelmed. This baby was a stranger to me. I didn't know what to do with her. I didn't feel at all joyful. I attributed feelings of doom to simple fatigue and figured that they would eventually go away. But they didn't; in fact, they got worse.

I couldn't bear the sound of Rowan crying, and I dreaded the moments my husband would bring her to me. I wanted her to disappear. I wanted to disappear. At my lowest points, I thought of swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out the window of my apartment.

I couldn't believe it when my doctor told me that I was suffering from postpartum depression and gave me a prescription for the antidepressant Paxil. I wasn't thrilled to be taking drugs. In fact, I prematurely stopped taking them and had a relapse that almost led me to drive my car into a wall with Rowan in the backseat. But the drugs, along with weekly therapy sessions, are what saved me - and my family.

Since writing about my experiences with the disease, I have been approached by many women who have told me their stories and thanked me for opening up about a topic that is often not discussed because of fear, shame or lack of support and information. Experts estimate that one in 10 women suffer, usually in silence, with this treatable disease. We are living in an era of so-called family values, yet because almost all of the postnatal focus is on the baby, mothers are overlooked and left behind to endure what can be very dark times.

And comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general.

If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease. Perhaps now is the time to call on doctors, particularly obstetricians and pediatricians, to screen for postpartum depression. After all, during the first three months after childbirth, you see a pediatrician at least three times. While pediatricians are trained to take care of children, it would make sense for them to talk with new mothers, ask questions and inform them of the symptoms and treatment should they show signs of postpartum depression.

In a strange way, it was comforting to me when my obstetrician told me that my feelings of extreme despair and my suicidal thoughts were directly tied to a biochemical shift in my body. Once we admit that postpartum is a serious medical condition, then the treatment becomes more available and socially acceptable. With a doctor's care, I have since tapered off the medication, but without it, I wouldn't have become the loving parent I am today.

So, there you have it. It's not the history of psychiatry, but it is my history, personal and real.

Brooke Shields, the author of "Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression," is starring in the musical "Chicago" in London.

[Aceisgreat]

Shields Rips Cruise's 'Ridiculous Rant'

NEW YORK - Brooke Shields took aim at Tom Cruise's "Today" show diatribe against antidepressants, saying the drugs helped her survive feelings of hopelessness after the birth of her first child. In an op-ed piece published Friday in The New York Times, Shields criticized what she called Cruise's "ridiculous rant."

Cruise had criticized the actress for taking the drugs, and became particularly passionate about the issue in an interview on "Today" last week.

"You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do," Cruise told Matt Lauer.

He went on to say there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that need to be corrected with drugs, and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression," Shields wrote.

She added that Cruise's comments "are a disservice to mothers everywhere. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general."

Shields said she considered swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out the window at the lowest point of her depression following the birth of her daughter, Rowan Francis, in 2003. A doctor later attributed her feelings to a plunge in her estrogen and progesterone levels and prescribed the antidepressant Paxil.

"If any good can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease," she wrote.

Shields described her post-childbirth experiences in the book "Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression."

Cruise is a follower of Scientology, a religion that teaches that psychiatry is a destructive pseudo-science.

In an interview with AP Radio Wednesday night, Kelly Preston, who is also a Scientologist, defended the actor's "Today" show comments about Shields. "If you're going to be advocating drugs, which she does in her book, you need to be responsible for also telling the people of the potential risks."

Preston also said Cruise's heated debate with Lauer was "very helpful because it's just raised awareness. People are talking about it now, and that's what they should be."

"Whatever your political, social or religious background, this is an issue that affects all of us," she said. "It is not just a Scientology issue."

[Penelope]

This TC/Rob Thomas (c'mon Rob, I thought you had better taste! But, then, I thought Katie had better taste) "affair" has been much discussed over at Datalounge since last weekend. I'm inclined to believe it's the work of an over-active imagination, and I'm sure it will never be confirmed either way; personally, TC has never struck me as being gay, or he's so brainwashed by Scientology that it is blocking my gaydar. And I'd rather he not be gay--an arrogant, condescending idiot is not the image of a gay man I want to project to the world.

[Damien]

A friend sent me this today:

To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: OH boy

Good Stuff Folks!!!

A friend of mine just got back from LA and heard this scoop about Tom & Katie from someone who works at Universal. The source said that they (Tom & Katie) have a 5-year contract and he's paying her $8 million.

The engagement happened so fast because Rob Thomas' (Matchbox 20) wife caught Rob and and Tom in bed together and they rushed the engagement so that it would overshadow that scandal. Obv., take it with a grain of
salt.

Read below. This was just published.

Independent Sources

Bureaucrats?Independent Sources Confirms Existence of Tom Cruise/Rob Thomas Rumor Independent Sources announced today that it has uncovered a
new, previously undiscovered Tom Cruise rumor:

Tom Cruise and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas are lovers!

Independent Sources has hesitated writing about Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes for many reasons. First, there are other things going on in the world that, believe it or not, rank higher on the importance scale. Second, pretty much everything that can be said is being said.

However, someone (I'll call her Mistress of the Hollywood Rumor) just walked into Insider's office with the following dish that I feel compelled to pass on. I did a quick check of Technorati and it wasn't there. So even if it is not true, it is at least original.

No doubt that anyone with an Internet connection has read about Tom Cruise being gay. According to rumor lore, he has had a long-time boyfriend in Chicago who is an Asian pilot for American Airlines. This is an accusation that Cruise and more importantly Cruise's many attorneys vehemently deny.

There have been many stories that supposedly corroborate his sexuality but never a smoking gun. Rumor mongers attribute this to the fact that Cruise goes to great lengths to cover his tracks. We are told that everyone around him signs extensive confidentiality contracts with enormous penalties for indiscretion. (Exhibit A: the 8-page confidentiality contract Cruise's housekeeper was forced to sign).

Such stories have been around for years and Cruise has evidently attempted to counter them with a series of high-profile heteronormative relationships. First, Nicole Kidman, then Penelope Cruz, and most recently Katie Holmes. In each instance, the "relationship" is actually a contract that gives the women a boost to their careers, a lot of money, and an elegant lifestyle.

Here is where this particular rumor gets interesting. Not long ago, Marisol, the wife of Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas (who has had to contend with his own rumors of bi-sexuality) found her husband in bed with Tom Cruise causing Cruise's people to shift into high gear.

First, Mrs. Rob Thomas was bought off for an undetermined sum.

Second, Cruise and his handlers set out to immediately find Cruise a girlfriend. Second-tier actresses were targeted. A list was drawn up with Jessica Alba (#1 pick) and three other girls who fell out for various reasons.

Originally targeted (#3 I think) but later rejected as "undesirable" was rumor queen Lindsay Lohan. Way down at #5 on the list was Katie Holmes, but that was the one with whom they were able to strike a deal.

Once the contact was signed, photo ops were set up, leaks were made to the right places, and we've had celebrity relationship on steroids ever since.

One thing I will credit this rumor for is how it nicely explains
Tom's behavior this past few months-including the couch jumping episode on Oprah. Cruise simply didn't have time for the Holmes rumors to circulate at its normal speed and he couldn't allow it to be second page news while the tabloids focused on Brad, Jennifer and Angelina. No, this relationship had to immediately become the "it" topic.

Well, that's how we hear it.

[A reminder to those of you reading this who have trouble
differentiating truth from unsubstantiated rumor: at this point this is all conjecture. All we are doing is confirming the existence of a rumor that the Mistress tells us is all over Hollywood.] We should also add that this story is a bit of a departure for us. If you are interested in keeping up to date on it and other celebrity gossip, we suggest Defamer.

[Sonic Youth]

Of course he believes in aliens. He IS an alien.

[kaytodd]

"Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe?"!

That is a hostile sounding comment. Perhaps Cruise did not mean for it to come off that way, but it sounds that way to me. I'll bet that if I read a transcript or saw a film of that interview, I would see nothing about the demeanor of the interviewer or the tone of his questions that would call for Cruise to make that comment.

If the questions was something like "Tom, do you believe there is life on other worlds?" and it was delivered in a friendly or neutral manner, Tom's response was uncalled for. My guess is that he is just very prickly right now or was just being thoughtless. Now if the interviewer's attitude was something like "Tom, you are not one of those nuts who believes E.T. is somewhere out there, are you?", I would feel different.

[anonymous1980]

I believe there's intelligent life somewhere in the universe. It's a belief a lot of intelligent, reasonable people have.

But coming out of Tom Cruise's mouth it makes it sound crazy.