Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey have gotten together for their first face to face meeting since the ‘couch’ episode nearly three years ago. We all remember the crazed celebrity jumping up and down on O’s beige sofa – as if it were a trampoline. Oprah traveled to Cruise’s Colorado mountain retreat last weekend to tape a segment for an upcoming show.
Oprah has her work cut out for her if she intends to humanize the fallen star. Much has happened since that epic television moment that caused Oprah’s eyes to roll. Cruise has married Katie Holmes and the couple have a two year old daughter Suri. The actor and his production company got the boot from Paramount Pictures when their executive team grew disenchanted with his odd behavior.
Seemingly undaunted by these temporary setbacks, the actor partnered with Paula Wagner, CEO of United Artists. Their lackluster inaugural project, Lions to Lambs, was directed by Robert Redford and starred Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep.
Cruise alienated (no pun intended) both Brooke Shields and Matt Lauer when he took the NBC host and the actress to task on the subject of psychiatry and the evils of postpartum depression drugs. Lauer was labeled glib and ignorant by the self proclaimed authority. Shields, who wrote a book about her experience with postpartum depression following the birth of her first daughter, was drawn into the fray but took the high road in her response to Cruise’s rant.
Andrew Morton launched an unauthorized biography detailing Cruise’s relationship with Scientology and how it has affected all aspects of his life and the lives of those with whom he has had a relationship. Morton infers that Cruise is near the top of the Scientology hierarchy, in terms of status. To add fuel to that firestorm, several Scientology videos were unearthed that showed a much younger Cruise engaged in full religious spiel.
A USA Today/Gallup poll, taken on the heels of Cruise’s mounting woes, showed that half of those surveyed gave Cruise a 50% unfavorable rating (better than Bush but still in the tank). Marketing Evaluations, another reputable pollster, indicated that Cruise’s ‘Q’ score, a combined rating of fame, popularity and likability, took a 40% plunge amid the controversy.
According to People magazine, Oprah’s taped Colorado interview and snowmobile adventures with Cruise will air on Friday, May 2nd. Cruise will also appear on Oprah’s show in Chicago on Monday, May 5th. That segment is being staged to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his breakout film Risky Business.
It should be interesting to see if Cruise can muster some positive press from the two media opportunities.
For more photos of Oprah and Tom during the interview, CLICK HERE.