Talk show legend David Letterman drove “Mr. Big Shot” Tom Cruise for skipping Sunday’s Oscars despite “Top Gun: Maverick” being a contender. (Watch the video below.)
“Here’s something that might be a little touchy,” Letterman told Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the awards ceremony, on Wednesday. “Where Was Tom Cruise?”
Kimmel said he heard vague “production problems” with “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part II” as the reason, but “we have no idea what happened.”
“But Tom Cruise should have been there to celebrate his big jetpack maverick show,” Letterman insisted.
Kimmel suggested that Letterman was right in guessing that Cruise didn’t feel like he was going to win, so he didn’t show up.
“Between you and me, he should have been there, right?” repeated Letterman.
“He’s the Prince of Hollywood,” Kimmel replied.
Letterman complimented Kimmel on the Oscars success, even without “Mr. Big Shot” to be there. “Nice, Jimmy,” he said.
It was later revealed that Kimmel had to cut a tribute to Cruise when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed he would not be attending. But Kimmel still worked in a prank mocking a scene from the movie and Scientology.
“Tom Cruise with his shirt off in that beach soccer scene? L. Ron Hubba Hubba, you know what I mean?” Kimmel burst.
“Maverick” star Cruise was up for a Best Picture Oscar as producer of 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.
