#Tom Cruise’s COVID Rant Has Remaining M:I7 Crew ‘Walking On Eggshells’

As we’ve been reporting, the action star has faced some backlash over leaked audio of him yelling at the crew of Mission: Impossible 7 over coronavirus safety precautions. Tom, who normally has a reputation for being relentlessly upbeat, threatened to fire anyone not following protocol in his expletive-filled rant.

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His message had some supporters in show business, but it definitely came at a cost, with at least five crew members quitting in the immediate aftermath of the incident. According to a source for Us Weekly, those who remained are now “walking on eggshells” on the set.

The insider said:

“They believe it had a lot to do with his ego. Good intentions aside, he didn’t need to rant and rave the way he did.”

The source added:

“[Tom was] actually appalled anyone would jeopardize filming with an act of such sheer stupidity. According to him, there’s no margin for error, especially when so many other productions have been shut down.”

As we’ve said before, being the star and producer of a big-budget film in the time of coronavirus is understandably a lot of pressure. But that doesn’t excuse mistreating your employees. And considering he reportedly left the set early for the holidays, we wonder if production delays weren’t quite as important as the 58-year-old made it seem.

Still, there are those who continue to defend Tom’s actions. An insider for People, described as a “UK-based production source” (where the film is currently located) stuck up for the big boss. They shared:

“It’s hard to [describe] how incredibly intense and focused he is on making every movie the absolute best possible. The Mission: Impossible movies are very special to him. They are ‘his’ movies. Tom helped set up the COVID protocol. Of course he takes it personally when the protocol is broken.”

The source continued:

“In all the years of filming the Mission: Impossible franchise, no one has ever even heard Tom raise his voice. He is usually just laser-focused on filming. This movie is very different though. He has to film while making sure everyone stays safe.”

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Another People source noted that the Top Gun star “is a perfectionist and he wants others to follow suit.” They went on:

“Tom’s whole life is his work. When he sees something less than professional, he wants to make it right. … He feels the pressure of how scary things look now. He does not want any further disruption. There is a lot at stake.”

We know Tom can be prone to, er, emotional outbursts, going all the way back to jumping on Oprah’s couch, so we guess this whole incident is kind of in character for him. Unless of course you believe Leah Remini that the whole rant was a Scientology publicity stunt, in which case… well, maybe it’s still in character, just in another way.

We’ll see how it goes when filming resumes in 2021!

[Image via KIKA/WENN]