Tom Cruise on “Today”: I Came Across as Arrogant

Even when he's apologizing for acting crazy, Tom Cruise seems little, well, just a little bit crazy.

With a somber tone befitting the discussion of a national tragedy, Tom Cruise apologized to Matt Lauer this morning on the "Today"  show for his 2005 outburst on that program during which he criticized Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants, talked about the "pseudo science" of psychiatry and the recreational uses of Ritalin

"I came across as arrogant," an extremely subdued Cruise told Lauer. "It was one of those things were I said 'Okay. I absolutely could have handled that better.....That's not who I am."

In that infamous interview, a seemingly unhinged Cruise ripped into Lauer, telling him he was glib and didn't know about psychiatry. Cruise, who has been a Scientologist for 25 years, agrees with the religion's long-running campaign against psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.  He repeatedly chastised Lauer for not having read the "research papers" on Ritalin and other pharmaceuticals. 

"Just knowing people on Ritalin isn't enough," Cruise said. "You should be a little more responsible in knowing what [Ritalin] is because you communicate to people."

The mea culpa comes as Cruise is making rounds on talk-shows to promote his new movie, "Valkyrie." Cruise stars as a Adolf Hitler's would-be assassin Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg in "Valkyrie," which is to be released Dec. 25.

But it's the first time the two have been together since the "glib" incident.  Cruise helped the Friars Club roast Lauer in October.   

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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