George Clooney says he understands Tom Cruise rant at Mission: Impossible 7 crew

Hollywood star was recorded giving an expletive-filled reprimand after he apparently spotted crew failing to observe proper social distancing

George Clooney has weighed in on the audio clip of Tom Cruise yelling at crew members after he saw them failing to observe social distancing requirements on the set of Mission: Impossible 7.

The Hollywood star gave an expletive-filled reprimand to the two crew members, and told them they would be fired if he saw them doing it again.

Appearing on Howard Stern’s radio show, Clooney said he didn’t feel that Cruise had overreacted.

“He didn't overreact because it is a problem,” he said, according to People. “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.”

While Clooney said he would have treated the situation differently, he commented that he understood why Cruise felt so strongly about it.

At one point, Cruise was heard telling the crew members: “No apologies. You can tell it to the people who are losing their f***ing homes because our industry is shut down.”

He continued: “It’s not going to put food on their table or pay for their college education. That’s what I sleep with every night — the future of this f***ing industry! So I’m sorry, I'm beyond your apologies.”

“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,” Clooney said.

Cruise on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 (AFP via Getty Images)

“And, you know, if the production goes down, a lot of people lose their jobs,” he continued.

“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.”

He added that, while he wouldn’t have done it “quite that personally”, he wondered whether the situation had happened before.

“I don't know all the circumstances so maybe he had it 10 or 15 times before,” he said.

Mission: Impossible 7 has suffered a number of setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic. Production was initially halted in February this year, while filming was taking place in Italy.

In October, the film was forced to shut down for another week after a crew member tested positive for Covid-19. Production is now underway in London.

The film is scheduled for release in November 2021.