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Jerry O’Connell admits he once hid from Tom Cruise after doing a Funny or Die sketch in 2008 in which he impersonated the actor. In a Tuesday interview on the podcast, “Allegedly with Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss,” O’Connell reveals he’s avoided the actor for years and also discussed getting drunk at a Scientology party. Listen to the O’Connell interview about Cruise and Scientology below.
In the famously controversial sketch, O’Connell mocked Cruise, something that seven years later he admits may have gone too far. During his podcast interview, O’Connell says, “I saw [Cruise] at one event, and I hid. I had to be at the event. I hid for as long as I could. When it was time to disperse, I literally was the first at valet.” He admits he’s still “sort of avoiding him,” though notes, “I don’t think there will be a confrontation, but it’s just, why poke that bear? It was rude what I did.”
O’Connell further tells the hosts, “Scientology is a weird place. I’m 41. I don’t know if Scientology is right in my wheelhouse. I think if you’re younger today it’s not that big a deal… I had friends who went into it.” He did, however, give Scientology a shot, actually many shots, several years ago.
“There’s no rules about drinking or not in Scientology. Those people party,” recalls O’Connell about a night of drinking nearly two decades ago. He says he and his brother were then invited to an after-party across the street at the Celebrity Center. “Everyone was walking in the gates, and you’re sort of drunkenly stumbling and you’re happy to not have to drive anywhere… A group of them all went in. I was with my brother, and he was like, “Oh no, we can’t do this,’ and they were like, ‘Come in. Don’t be lame!’ …That’s how they get you.”
Listen below to hear O’Connell’s comments about Cruise and Scientology, starting at the 5:15-mark, and tell Gossip Cop what you think.
