Tom Cruise COVID Rant: Revisit 5 Of The Biggest Celebrity Set Meltdowns

Tom Cruise’s on-set meltdown went viral last week after the actor was secretly recorded yelling at the “Mission: Impossible 7” crew for failing to follow safety protocols.

Celebrities are known to occasionally crack after working long hours on a set. However, with new COVID-19 restrictions in place, getting approved to film and keeping production up and running is harder than ever, which has put a lot of pressure on leads.

The new safety protocols are what caused Cruise’s meltdown on the “MI7” set after he saw two crew members standing too close together.

In audio obtained by The Sun, Cruise revealed he wouldn’t let the movie get shut down because it could have a negative effect on other Hollywood productions.

“They’re back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. Because they believe in us and what we’re doing,” he yelled.

Production of “MI7” was temporarily shut down in Itay in October when 12 people on set tested positive for COVID-19, Variety reported. The movie is now filming in the U.K.

“Am I clear? Do you understand what I want? Do you understand the responsibility that you have? Because I will deal with your reason, and if you can’t be reasonable and I can’t deal with your logic, you’re fired,” Cruise said in the recording.

“That’s it. That is it,” he added.

However, Cruise isn’t the only actor to lose his cool on set. Revisit four other celebrity set meltdowns below.

Christian Bale

In 2009, actor Christian Bale berated Shane Hurlbut, a director of photography, and threatened to quit if the employee wasn’t fired after accidentally ruining a scene on the set of “Terminator Salvation.”

“I want you off the [expletive] set! You prick!” Bale yelled at Hurlbut. “No, don’t just be sorry!” he added when Hurlbut attempted to apologize.

The actor went on to drop several profane terms while reprimanding the D.P. for distracting him during the scene.

Bale later issued an apology for his behavior during an appearance on Los Angeles radio station KROQ. “I was out of order beyond belief. I make no excuses for it,” he said.

Bill O’Reilly

It wasn’t until 2008 that uncovered footage of Bill O’Reilly’s meltdown while working at "Inside Edition" would hit the internet, but when it did, people who worked with the star weren’t surprised by his on-set behavior.

In the clip, O’Reilly is seen becoming frustrated when he doesn’t understand what the phrase “to play us out” means when he reads it from the teleprompter.

“There’s no words there! ‘To play us out?’ What does that mean? ‘To play us out’?” he yells at the crew members.

Someone off-camera then explained that a sting would be played. However, O’Reilly was still having issues with the phrase.

“I don’t know what that means! ‘To play us out’? What does that mean? To end the show?” he questioned.

After the individual revealed O’Reilly had a correct understanding of the phrase, he still struggled to read it from the teleprompter. The anchor then dropped several curse words before declaring that he would write the line himself and do the take live.

David O. Russell

An uncovered video of director David O. Russell yelling at actress Lily Tomlin on the set of the 2004 film “I Heart Huckabees” went viral. In the clip, Russell trashes the set and insults Tomlin over failing to take his direction for a scene.

Despite the heated confrontation, Tomlin told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015 that she and Russell “made up in just a few hours." She added, "then we had a second fracas. By then, I was like stoic in my suffering. But we’ve overcome it. It dissipates, and it’s gone.”

Over the years, Tomlin and Rusell have worked together again following their infamous argument.

Joaquin Phoenix

When a clip of actor Joaquin cursing at “Joker” cinematographer Lawrence Sher surfaced, the performer's rep told Entertainment Weekly that it “was a joke outtake." However, Joaquin's appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” had some questioning the actor’s on-set behavior.

During a 2019 episode, Kimmel shared a video of the actor cursing at Sher about whispering and calling him a diva by comparing him to Cher. Phoenix appeared surprised after seeing the clip on the talk show and revealed that the footage was supposed to be private.

“Sometimes movies get intense cause you’re a lot of people in a small space and you’re trying to find something, so it can feel intense,” he told Kimmel. “But, um, that was supposed to be private. I’m a little embarrassed and I’m sorry about that,” he added.