Sorry, Cruise
2005-06-21 07:08
London - Britain's Channel 4 television apologised on Monday to Tom Cruise after one of its teams sprayed the American actor with water as part of a prank for an entertainment show.
Promoting his latest Steven Spielberg film, War of the Worlds, Cruise was in central London's Leicester Square on Sunday evening with his fiancee, Katie Holmes, when a mock journalist used a fake microphone to spray Cruise's face with water.
"The stunt was intended to be light-hearted rather than malicious and we would apologise to Mr Cruise for any offence that was caused," the broadcaster said in a statement.
Part of the new show "involved playing light-hearted comedy pranks on celebrities and members of the public", Channel 4 said.
Cruise was answering reporters' questions in front of some 5 000 fans when the incident occurred.
"Why would you do that?" the actor asked after the prank. "Do you like thinking less of people, is that it?"
After a silence, the fake reporter went to walk away but Cruise said: "Don't run away.
"That's incredibly rude. I'm here giving you an interview and you do that," Cruise said. "You're a jerk ... jerk ... you're a jerk."
The actor then wiped his face and continued with the interviews.
The four-member Channel 4 team was detained by police after the incident.
Cruise, 42, announced in Paris on Friday that he was soon to marry 26-year-old Holmes.