Hilarie Burton, Aisha Tyler & More Celebs Applaud Tom Cruise’s COVID Rant On ‘Mission Impossible’ Set

Hilarie Burton, Aisha Tyler, and more stars came to Tom Cruise’s defense after he reportedly went off on the production crew for not following COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Celebrities are reacting after Tom Cruise, 58, made headlines on Dec. 15 when The Sun leaked an audio clip that the outlet claims is him going on a profanity-filled rant against some crew members who stood too close to each other on the set of Mission Impossible 7. Although the audio reportedly featured an intense, shouting Tom threatening the employees that they’ll be “fired” if they don’t follow COVID safety guidelines, stars like Hilarie Burton, 38, and Aisha Tyler, 50, took to Twitter to express their support for the actor and the meaning behind the rant.

“I’ve never liked him more! Can I just blast this at the supermarket?” Hilarie’s tweet read in response to another tweet featuring a clip of the audio.

Aisha’s response to the audio clip included a cheeky tweet that gave herself advice. “Need to work on my b*tchness,” it read.

Tom Cruise is correct here FYI. Sorry/Not sorry.

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 16, 2020

Josh Gad, 39, also chimed in on Twitter to share his opinion with the tweet, “Tom Cruise is correct here FYI. Sorry/Not sorry” and designer Kenneth Cole, 66, used one of Tom’s most famous movie lines to make his point. “’I want the truth’. ‘You can’t handle the truth ‘. -A few good men. Tom Cruise,” he wrote.

“I want the truth”. “You can’t handle the truth “. -A few good men. Tom Cruise https://t.co/7Z4cUPM617

— Kenneth Cole (@kennethcolereal) December 16, 2020

Actress Bethany Anne Lind followed suit by replying to a tweet that advised people to not call Tom “a monster” because he’s “a hardworking actor”. “I’m on this train… I don’t think it’s for anyone to judge an out-of-context ‘rant’,” she wrote before also expressing understanding of critics. “But someone screaming at people (with the pretense of others losing their homes – when you could pay your entire crew their yearly rent without batting an eye) is gonna be triggering for some.”

“That being said,” she continued. “I for sure hollered in the privacy of my home tonight about someone not present and their decisions that affect me and the decisions I make during a pandemic and I would NOT want it to be shared.”

Another celeb that defended Tom earlier today was Whoopi Goldberg, 65. The actress explained her support on the most recent episode of The View, which she co-hosts. “Some people don’t understand why he’d get so angry. I get it,” she said. “You know, that’s his movie. And if he goes down with COVID, the movie’s done. That’s five, six weeks done. You can keep going… but you can’t get another Tom Cruise.”

She went on to compare the crew members not following safety guidelines to giving Tom “the middle finger” and related to his frustration by saying, “I curse people out all the time.” Fellow co-host Joy Behar, 78, also agreed with her. “I believe Tom Cruise is completely justified in doing that. I’m completely on his side,” she said.

Tom has been filming Mission Impossible 7 in Europe and has been photographed wearing a mask on set. The film is expected to be released in 2021.