Talk show legend David Letterman rode “Mr. Big Shot” Tom Cruise for skipping Sunday’s Oscars, despite “Top Gun: Maverick” being a contender. (Watch the video below.)
“Now here’s something that may be a little sensitive,” Letterman told Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the awards ceremony, on Wednesday. “Where was Tom Cruise?”
Kimmel said he heard vague “production issues” involving “Mission: Impossible ― Dead Reckoning Part II” as the reason, but “we have no idea what happened.”
“But Tom Cruise should have been there celebrating his big jet pack maverick show,” Letterman insisted.
Kimmel suggested that Letterman was right in guessing that Cruise didn’t feel like he would win, so he didn’t show up.
“Between you and me, he should have been there, right?” Letterman repeated.
“He is the prince of Hollywood,” Kimmel replied.
Letterman complimented Kimmel on making the Oscars a success, even without “Mr. Big Shot” being there. “Nice going, Jimmy,” he said.
It was later revealed that Kimmel had to scrap a tribute to Cruise when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed he wouldn’t attend. But Kimmel still worked in a joke poking fun at a scene from the movie and Scientology.
“Tom Cruise with his shirt off in that beach football scene? L. Ron Hubba Hubba, you know what I’m saying?” Kimmel cracked.
“Maverick” star Cruise was up for a Best Picture Oscar as a producer on the blockbuster, and the film was nominated in five other categories. It won for Best Sound.
Cruise was later seen in London celebrating actor Michael Caine’s 90th birthday, which was on Tuesday.
