Redstone Still Bruising Cruise

Wed., Nov. 1, 2006 12:32 PM PST by Sarah Hall

At least Sumner Redstone isn't having second thoughts about his decision to sever ties with Tom Cruise.

Though the Viacom honcho has already been plenty outspoken about his reasons for not renewing Cruise's production deal with Paramount Pictures back in August, he had more to say about the split in an interview with December's Vanity Fair.

"He was embarrassing the studio. And he was costing us a lot of money," Redstone told the magazine.

Before the ax fell, Cruise and his partner, Paula Wagner, were earning $10 million a year producing films for Paramount through their company, Cruise/Wagner Productions. Over the course of their 14-year association with the studio, their films grossed $3 billion worldwide.

However, when Mission: Impossible III failed to live up to industry expectations, Redstone pounced, accusing Cruise of sinking the film with his bizarre behavior.

The 83-year-old tycoon estimated that Cruise's couch-jumping antics had cost the studio "$100 million, $150 million on Mission: Impossible III," which he called "the best picture" in the action franchise, "and it did the worst."

Redstone also confirmed that he took his wife Paula's personal opinion of Cruise into account when making his decision.

"Paula, like women everywhere, had come to hate him. The truth of the matter is, I did listen to her, but I make business decisions myself," he said. "His behavior was entirely unacceptable to Paula and to the rest of the world. He just didn't turn one [woman] off. He turned off all women and a lot of men."

The behavior to which Redstone referred included Cruise's well-publicized attack on Brooke Shields for her use of antidepressants (the two have since made up, and Shields and Katie Holmes are reportedly quite chummy), the testy Today show interview in which he called Matt Lauer "glib," the furniture-mauling appearance on Oprah and his hiring of his sister, Lee Anne DeVette, as his publicist.

"When did I decide [to fire him]? I don't know. When he was on the Today show? When he was jumping on a couch on Oprah? He changed his handler, you know, to his sister—not a good idea," Redstone said.

According to Vanity Fair, a spokesperson for Cruise declined to comment for the article. However, at the time Paramount showed Cruise/Wagner Productions the door, Wagner lashed out at Redstone, calling his remarks about Cruise "outrageous and disrespectful."

Shortly after Paramount and Cruise/Wagner Productions went their separate ways, Wagner announced that the company had secured independent financing through a deal with First and Goal L.L.C., an investor group headed by Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins and chairman of the Six Flags amusement parks.

Meanwhile, Cruise is currently said to be considering starring roles in a trio of projects, according to a recent Daily Variety article. Should he accept one of the roles, it would mark his first venture since the Paramount breakup.

The actor is also reportedly planning to tie the knot with Holmes later this month in Italy. Somehow, we're guessing Redstone won't make the guest list.