When Tom Cruise shamed Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants, she said ‘stick to saving the world from aliens’

Tom Cruise was slammed in 2005 for criticising actor Brooke Shields’ use of antidepressants, and suggesting that women should care for themselves with vitamins and exercise instead.

In 2005, actors Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields got into a public spat. Cruise told Access Hollywood that Shields’ use of antidepressants to battle postpartum depression was ‘irresponsible’, and got a telling off in return.

Tom Cruise in a still from War of the Worlds.

“When someone says (medication) has helped them, it is to cope, it didn’t cure anything. There is no science. There is nothing that can cure them whatsoever,” he said. Cruise, who is a Scientologist, is forbidden from using ‘mind-altering’ substances of any kind, People reported then. He suggested women care for themselves with “vitamins and exercise.”

He added, “I care about Brooke Shields because I think she is an incredibly talented women, (but) look at where has her career gone.”

Shields responded, “Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them.” In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, she wrote, “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression.”

Shields called those remarks “a disservice to mothers everywhere,” and continued, “If any good can come of Mr. Cruise’s ridiculous rant, let’s hope that it gives much-needed attention to a serious disease.” Years later, Shields revealed on Jenny McCarthy’s SiriusXM radio show that Cruise had apologised to her for his remarks in person.

Cruise was in the news this week after his Mission: Impossible 2 co-star Thandie Newton described in detail how the actor had pushed her into ‘terror and insecurity’ on the sets of the film.

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