Oscar producers have admitted that Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about Tom Cruise because the actor decided not to attend the ceremony.
Kimmel was the host of the 95th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday (March 12). The comedian opened his show with a monologue in which he ridiculed the director of “Avatar” James Cameron, last year’s incident with Will Smith’s slap in the face and criticism of the poor box office of “Babylon”.
The late-night TV host also couldn’t help but warn viewers that Cruz, whose “Best Shooter: Maverick” received six nominations, was not present. According to Entertainment Tonight, this happened because the actor is filming “Mission Impossible: Payback for Death, Part II” in the UK.
Kimmel addressed the box office of “Maverick” in 2022, calling it “the movie that saved the movies.” He then made what appeared to be a Scientology joke directed at Cruz, stating, “Everybody loved Top Gun—everybody. I mean Tom Cruise shirtless in that beach soccer scene. L. Ron Hubba-Hubba — do you understand what I’m talking about?
Cruz is probably the most famous member of the Church of Scientology, founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1953. The church found itself at the center of a number of headlines after its former members shared stories about their time in the church.
When executive producer Molly McNearney, Kimmel’s wife, was asked if the joke would have been there if Cruz had been there, she told Variety, “No.”
She clarified: “We had about a three-minute fragment of a monologue dedicated to Tom Cruise, dedicated to him and his role in the revival of the film industry.
“We were so disappointed when we found out a few days before the Oscars that he wouldn’t be there. Jimmy loves it and really wanted to celebrate it.”
Mcneary explained that “we had two versions of the monologue.” She clarified how many of Kimmel’s jokes depended on so many things, saying, “One [joke depended] if Rihanna was in her place, and one if she wasn’t in her place.”
