George Clooney says Tom Cruise "didn't overreact" in leaked COVID outburst

The Midnight Sky
(Image credit: Netflix)

George Clooney has responded to Tom Cruise’s leaked outburst about crew members breaching Covid protocols on the set of Mission: Impossible 7.

"He didn't overreact because it is a problem," Clooney said in an interview with Howard Stern. "I have a friend who's an AD on another TV show who just had the almost exact same thing happen with not quite as far out a response."

In the leaked audio clip, Cruise erupts: “If I see you do it again you’re fucking gone” after spotting two crew members standing close to each other while in front of a computer screen. Cruise’s tirade continued: “I’m on the phone with every fucking studio at night, insurance companies, producers and they’re looking at us and using us to make their movies. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherfuckers. I don’t ever want to see it again. Ever!”

"I wouldn't have done it that big. I wouldn't have, you know, pulled people out,” Clooney continued. “You're in a position of power and it's tricky, right? You do have a responsibility for everybody else and he's absolutely right about that. And, you know, if the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs. People have to understand that and have to be responsible. It's just not my style to, you know, to take everybody to task that way.”

Clooney added: “I understand why he did it. He's not wrong at all about that. You know, I just, I don't know that I would have done it quite that personally, but I don't know all the circumstances so maybe he had it 10 or 15 times before."

We can next see Clooney on our screens in The Midnight Sky on Netflix, which he also directed, on December 23. In the meantime, check out our list of the other best Netflix movies that we think are worth your time.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.