Both Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock are highly regarded in the industry for their remarkable work and on-screen performances. However, apart from a celebrated career, they also have a common experience of having had unpleasant encounters with the former news personality Matt Lauer.
Lauer is notorious for his blunt and intrusive style when dealing with Hollywood elites, as evidenced by several of his interactions. Notably, two of these encounters with Cruise and Bullock have gained significant attention in recent years; a heated debate with Cruise and a cringe-inducing, controversial interview with Bullock.
Tom Cruise’s 2005 Showdown with Matt Lauer
In addition to his movies, Tom Cruise is also known for causing quite a stir with his interviews, especially in the year 2005, including his memorable appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and his contentious interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show.
His and Lauer’s conversation has become known for the heated debate between them after it took a shift to Scientology and their anti-psychiatry stance. The discussion sparked from Cruise’s remarks regarding his former co-star Brook Shield opening up about going into therapy and taking antidepressants to deal with her postpartum depression around the same time.
I’ve never agreed with psychiatry, ever. Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry. And when I started studying the history of psychiatry, I understood more and more why I didn’t believe in psychology.
However, Lauer challenged his stance, noting that some people like Brook Shields, have had the help they needed from these medications. The Mission: Impossible star, however, continued to emphasize his belief in alternative approaches to treating mental health.
But what happens, the antidepressant, all it does is mask the problem. There’s ways, [with] vitamins and through exercise and various things…these drugs are very dangerous. They’re mind-altering, antipsychotic drugs. And there are ways of doing it without that so that we don’t end up in a brave new world.
While the interview ended with a heated debate, Cruise later acknowledged that he “could have handled that better.” Reflecting on his interview, the actor shared that he did not mean to come off as rude or arrogant.
“In looking at myself, I came across arrogant,” he said asserting, “I really thought, it’s not what I had intended.” The two have since remained on good terms as Lauer noted during a discussion about the infamous interaction on Watch What Happens Live.
Sandra Bullock’s Awkward Interaction With Matt Lauer
While Matt Lauer’s interaction with Tom Cruise was intense, it took a turn toward a more uncomfortable territory with Sandra Bullock. Lauer constantly mentioned how she had n*de scenes in her 2009 film The Proposal. “The major thing that’s changed since you were here last yes I have now seen you n*ked,” he said on the Today Show.
However, despite his inappropriate and intrusive remarks, Bullock responded with her trademark humor. “I’m so sorry about… were you able to sleep afterwards.” Lauer continued to press on her stance about on-screen n*dity, and although Bullock had previously avoided such scenes, she clarified, “I said I was never going to do like a s*x n*de scene but for comedy, I’m okay with that.”
With the former show host constantly asserting that she was n*ked for most of the movie, Bullock argued back that she was “not n*ked for most of this movie, maybe emotionally n*ked” in her polite and calm demeanor. Further, she also discussed how filming such sequences with her long-time friend and co-star Ryan Reynolds had its awkward moments.
However, Lauer just couldn’t get enough of the “n*de scene” in the movie, and Bullock did pull up a sharp and subtle critique of him. When he asked if he had mentioned that she had a n*de scene in The Proposal, Bullock responded, “Pretty much from the time you opened your mouth” before affirming that she would not be returning to the show, especially “after this interview.”
Lauer’s interviews with Bullock and other actresses, including Anne Hathaway, later resurfaced in a different light after s*xual harassment allegations emerged against him in 2017, resulting in NBC firing him from The Today Show.
He later released a statement, expressing his “sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions.” While he stated that some of the things mentioned have been “untrue or mischaracterized,” he also acknowledged that “there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed.” Lauer has since largely withdrawn from public life.
