Tom Cruise says he stands by COVID-19 rant that went viral

Actor Tom Cruise is standing by his comments from a rant that went viral in December in which the “Mission: Impossible 7” star lashed out at crew members for breaching COVID-19 protocols while on set.

Cruise in the leaked audio had admonished members of the film crew for breaking coronavirus precautions, threatening to fire them and saying, “I don’t ever want to see it again! Ever!”

The actor said in an interview with Empire magazine that emotions got to him but that there was a lot at stake during the filming for the upcoming movie franchise installment.

“I said what I said,” Cruise said in the magazine interview, according to the Los Angeles Times. “There was a lot at stake at that point.”

“All those emotions were going through my mind,” he added. “I was thinking about the people I work with, and my industry. And for the whole crew to know that we’d started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief.”

Cruise received praise from his Hollywood peers for the rant, with some applauding him for being vocal about COVID-19 safety.

I’ve never liked him more! Can I just blast this at the supermarket? https://t.co/KBFLDhKBwU

— Hilarie Burton Morgan (@HilarieBurton) December 16, 2020

Dear Tom Cruise, Please come yell at America.

— Mike Scully (@scullymike) December 16, 2020

The comments come after Cruise drew attention for reportedly returning his three Golden Globes to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in protest of the lack of diversity in the group, which has no Black members. 

NBC announced on Monday that it will not air the Golden Globes in 2022.