I don’t know what went wrong with the Friars Club dinner for Tom Cruise. But the red carpet, according to my spies and pictures from the photo agencies, show that was a non starter. One photographer simply said, “It was a bust.” The weather was bad, but that wouldn’t have stopped most celebs from being at a Tom Cruise event. On the red carpet, Cruise would only have his picture taken with “Rock of Ages” co-star Alec Baldwin.
Otherwise, the A list stayed home and dry. Two of kids were there–little Suri, without mom Katie, and Connor, Tom’s adopted son with Nicole Kidman. The bold faced names included Bill Hader from”Saturday Night Live.” Cuba Gooding Jr., Matt Lauer, actor Kevin Pollack, and Baldwin. As a promo for “Rock of Ages,” the evening didn’t really do much. Why TV chef Bobby Flay and actress Stephanie March, or designer Betsey Johnson, were there is a mystery. No Cameron Crowe–odd. And no Jann Wenner–he and Cruise used to be thick as thieves. There are a lot of pics of a teen actor named Jake T. Schmidt, who has nothing at all to do with Cruise.
Even Philip Seymour Hoffman, the villain from “Mission Impossible 3” was absent–but he’s stlll probably sleeping off the Tony Awards. Where was the usually omnipresent Holmes? She’s shooting a movie in nearby Connecticut. It’s actually hard to think of a time when little Suri was anywhere without Katie. Anyway, I am told the Waldorf Astoria ballroom is filled with patrons whose ticket money from this evening will go to the Friars’ many charitable donations. (They are a very generous group.) Also absent: much publicized friends like Will Smith and David Beckham.
Maybe they’re all coming later, or through the back door.
Robin Thicke, Megan Hilty, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings were slated to perform.
More to come…maybe….
