Intro for June 20, 2025

Dear Gossips,  

With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in theaters, Tom Cruise has gone to ground. Tom Cruise, despite being enormously famous, can completely disappear when he wants to. (Wither that erstwhile “romance” with Ana de Armas?) He is exhibit #1 when younger stars complain about being hounded by photographers—if Tom Cruise can disappear when he wants to, so can you. But Cruise is in the headlines this week—he’s receiving an honorary Oscar.

The other honorary recipients are Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas—Spike Lee’s longtime collaborator—and Dolly Parton will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Because the Academy is made up of wise men and women who absolutely know what they’re doing, this will happen at the non-televised Governors’ Awards later this year. Beloved star of screen and stage Debbie Allen, Black trailblazer Wynn Thomas, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and DOLLY PARTON are going to get Oscars next year, and it won’t be on TV. Great job, everyone! 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Cruise is getting an honorary Oscar now, when the stunt Oscar has finally been created. Cruise was one of the biggest names involved in lobbying for a stunt Oscar, and the Academy’s statement about his honorary Oscar specifically cites his “incredible commitment […] to the stunts community”. He’ll get his honorary Oscar this year, then, in 2027, I bet he presents the first Oscar for stunt design.

The question is whether or not Cruise shows up. I cannot imagine they would extend the award to him without knowing for sure he’d show up, but the Academy has recently placed some wild bets and lost (see also: making Best Actor the last award of the night in 2021, clearly thinking Chadwick Boseman would win and they would end the show on an emotional note, only for Anthony Hopkins, who wasn’t even there, to win). 

Cruise was nominated for Best Picture in 2023 as a producer of Top Gun: Maverick, but despite showing up at some precursor events, he bailed on the ceremony on the big night. Because they have moved the honorary awards to a non-televised event, it’s entirely possible Cruise goes to pick up his trophy but skips the Oscars. One of my dearest held conspiracy theories is that after not winning an Oscar for Magnolia, Tom Cruise deleted “caring about Oscars” from his brain and devoted himself fully to making blockbuster entertainment, the sort of films the Academy rarely acknowledges these days. It would track for him to accept his award behind closed doors but not go to the telecast—also not allowing anyone to tell jokes on him.  

Plus, he hasn’t been to the Oscars since 2012. If he waits for the stunt Oscar in 2027, he will deliver a highly memorable TV moment, guaranteeing maximum attention for the award he lobbied for and the community he regularly celebrates. Tom Cruise is about High Impact. He’s a High Impact Celebrity who stars in High Impact Movies. What’s the most High Impact Oscar move he can make? Don’t go on TV until he’s presenting the stunt Oscar. 

Live long and gossip,

Sarah