Tom Cruise turned down an invitation from President Donald Trump to be part of the Kennedy Center Honors. The event is set for December 7 and will air on CBS and Paramount+.
This year’s honorees are George Strait, KISS, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, and Sylvester Stallone. Cruise was offered the award but said he couldn’t attend due to “scheduling conflicts.”
People at the Kennedy Center backed that up and confirmed it. Trump, who is 79, told reporters he was almost fully in charge of picking the honorees.
Trump said: “I would say I was about 98 percent involved. They all went through me. I had a couple of wokesters. Now, we have great people. This is very different than it used to be, very different.”
He also admitted to rejecting some names for being “too woke.” And then he joked about being honored himself one day, saying: “I waited and waited and waited, and I said, ‘The h**l with it, I’ll become chairman and I’ll give myself an honor. Next year, we’ll honor Trump, okay?’”
But Cruise is still lined up for another honor. He will be given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards on November 16. Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas will also be recognized that night. Dolly Parton will get the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The Academy said back in June that Cruise was being honored for decades of work in movies. He’s had three acting nominations and one for Best Picture with Top Gun: Maverick, which made more than $1 billion worldwide.
He keeps busy with projects. This summer he starred in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and he already wrapped a new film by Alejandro G. Iñárritu that is set for release in 2026.
And after Paramount and Skydance merged, CEO David Ellison made it clear a third Top Gun movie is a big goal. He said: “One of our biggest priorities is restoring Paramount as the No. 1 destination for the most talented artists and filmmakers in the world. Great filmmakers make great movies.”
