Apparently, Tom Cruise had an awkward reason for wanting to skip the Oscars ceremony on Sunday: his ex-wife. The Top Gun: Maverick star was conspicuously absent on Hollywood's biggest night, even though his movie was nominated for several big awards. It sounds like Tom wanted to avoid seeing Nicole Kidman on the champagne carpet, even though it's been years since their bitter divorce.
The Daily Mail learned about the reason for Tom's absence from an anonymous source.
Although Tom's movie has been hailed as the cure to Hollywood's pandemic slump, the 60-year-old actor was nowhere to be seen when it came time to celebrate the blockbuster. Instead, an insider has revealed that he was hiding out at home to "avoid an awkward run-in" with Nicole. The two split more than 20 years ago, but apparently there's still plenty of tension between them.
Tom's movie was up for six awards, including Best Picture.
The bad blood between him and Nicole must run deep, considering just how much recognition both Tom and his movie stood to get. (Unfortunately, Top Gun: Maverick only walked away with the statuette for Best Sound.)
"Tom was not there because she was there, and he did not want a run-in," the source explained.
Nicole and Tom's divorce is infamous for how messy it was.
The former couple met in 1990 on the set of Days of Thunder, and it was love at first sight. Nicole and Tom married that same year and went on to adopt two children together.
Twelve years later, Tom shocked the world by walking out on Nicole, taking both kids with him. Since their divorce, it has been revealed that Tom left over Nicole's refusal to join the controversial Church of Scientology.
Nicole and current husband Keith Urban didn't shy away from the event.
Nicole wasn't up for any awards on Sunday, but that didn't keep her and Keith away from the glitzy ceremony. In fact, according to the Daily Mail, fans couldn't stop talking about Nicole's time on the carpet, with some even joking that she must have had a few pre-awards show cocktails due to her flamboyant behavior in front of the pool of photographers.
A source close to Tom is denying the rumors about his Oscars absence.
According to an unnamed insider, the real reason Tom skipped the awards show was because he was busy with work. But he is reportedly very proud of Maverick and pleased that it got such recognition by the academy.
"Tom worked very hard on the film and has supported it in every way that he can, work permitting," the source noted.
Even though both explanations sound totally plausible, we'll never truly know why Tom was MIA for his movie's big night.
