Highlights
- Tom Cruise faced uncomfortable questions about Jett Travolta’s passing during his time on The View, showcasing his closeness to the family and Scientology ties.
- Barbara Walters has a history of asking controversial questions and faced criticism for her interview with Ricky Martin about his sexuality.
- Tom Cruise has acknowledged feeling misunderstood and misrepresented in past damaging interviews, but has focused on moving forward and doing his best in communication.
Things can get very heated on The View. We’ve seen lots of examples, with the hosts themselves repeatedly almost walking off the set. In the following, we’re going to look at Tom Cruise and his time on The View. During the interview, Barbara Walters brought up a touchy question and one Tom Cruise clearly felt uncomfortable answering on the show.
We’ll take a look back at how it all went down between the two, and why Tom was praised for his approach and how he answered the question.
In addition, we’ll reveal other memorable interview moments featuring Tom Cruise, while also putting the spotlight on other times Barbara Walters may have gone too far with a certain question for a guest.
Barbara Walters Had A Few Regretful Questions In The Past
The late Barbara Walters took on several memorable interviews throughout her legendary career, however, at times, some of the questions caused lots of controversy. Among the forgettable moments included drilling Ricky Martin about his sexuality. Walters was basically asking Martin to come out at the time, but the artist clearly wasn’t ready. Looking back, Martin felt violated by what had taken place.
“When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out. I was very afraid.”
Martin did admit that perhaps he might’ve done things differently looking back.
“A lot of people say, what would you do differently? Well, maybe I would have come out in that interview. It would’ve been great because when I came out, it just felt amazing. When it comes to my sexuality, when it comes to who I am, I want to talk about what I’m made of, about everything that I am. Because if you hide it, it’s a life-or-death situation.”
After the fact years later, Walters did apologize for the moment. “In 2000, I pushed Ricky Martin very hard to admit if he was gay or not, and the way he refused to do it made everyone decide that he was. A lot of people say that destroyed his career, and when I think back on it now I feel it was an inappropriate question.”
As it turns out, it was far from the only time fans felt as though Walters was out of line with a question.
Barbara Walters Asked Tom Cruise About Jett Travolta’s Passing During His Time On The View
Tom was on The View to promote his film at the time, but the interview takes an intense turn when Jett Travolta is brought up. Given Tom’s closeness to the family and their ties with Scientology, tackling such a question wasn’t easy for the actor.
He revealed, “It’s horrific. It’s just horrific. Here you have a man, both of them doting parents, they’re wonderful people.”
Tom would go on to reveal that he knew Jett from the day he was born. “I remember Jett when he was born,” Cruise said. “I saw him when he was just a few months old and John just adored him, and both of his children, and Kelly.”
An emotional Cruise added, “I just don’t have the words for it.”
Fans took exception to the question given that Cruise was there to promote a film, and that this intense turn should not have been taken given that it involved such a tragedy.
The most liked comment on the YouTube video writes, “Tom was there to promote a movie, that was so out of line and disrespectful to Jetts parents you could see Tom wince at how uncomfortable he was with that line of questioning. Very insensitive I thought. Tom handled it well.”
Without a doubt, Cruise did handle the emotional moment with lots of class and care.
Tom Cruise Admits He Felt Misunderstood During His Damaging Interviews In The Past
In the past, Tom Cruise has faced the wrath of the media for certain interviews. His time alongside Oprah certainly derailed his career at the time. Cruise himself was reportedly extremely upset with the way things played out, mentioning that it was edited to make things look worse than they were.
The actor revealed in separate interviews to being very careful with what he has to say given that his words can be taken out of context.
“Listen I, I feel like definitely things have been misunderstood, and there are things I could have done better. But then there’s also that world where you go, ‘Oh, it’s been spun to such an extent that. That’s a truth also.”
“Knowing when and where to communicate, I think that’s important. A lot of times I was nervous giving interviews. Or I wasn’t sometimes as comfortable about things. And I realized that it’s okay. There’s stuff you have to just let go. I just have to do the best I can.”
Despite the ups and downs, the actor is at the prime of his career all these years later thanks to his recent work in the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible.
Source: NewsFinale
