Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise capped off the Paris Olympics closing ceremony with a dramatic stunt that saw him abseiling off the Stade de France roof. The actor was mobbed by a crowd of adoring fans as he lowered himself into the stadium, one of whom grabbed and kissed him. Footage of the kiss has since gone viral on social media.
Tom Cruise, 62, rappelled down from the top of the Stade de France during the Olympics closing ceremony. After touching the ground, the Mission Impossible actor shook hands with fans as he walked through the stadium. It was here that a woman was filmed grabbing Cruise and pecking his cheek while filming the encounter on her phone.
Take a look at the video below:
The video has generated a controversy online, with social media users calling it inappropriate. Many users pointed out that the internet would not have taken so kindly to this incident had the roles been reversed.
{{/usCountry}}The video has generated a controversy online, with social media users calling it inappropriate. Many users pointed out that the internet would not have taken so kindly to this incident had the roles been reversed.
{{/usCountry}}“Would hate to see what would happen if the roles were reversed,” wrote one X user.
“Did she ask for consent?” another wondered. “The amount of people laughing at Tom Cruise getting kissed while working at the Olympics is disgusting. If that was a female celebrity there'd be uproar. Like him or not that shouldn't have happened!” a user said.
“The worst kind of people in audiences. Absolute zero respect for personal space. If it had been a man with a woman people would already be looking for all his information to burn him alive,” a third opined.
The closing ceremony capped two and a half extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotions and featured a skydiving Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and many others. Cruise — in his Ethan Hunt persona — wowed by descending from the top of the stadium to electric guitar “Mission Impossible” riffs. Once his feet were back on the ground — and after shaking hands with enthralled athletes — he took the Olympic flag from star gymnast Simone Biles, fixed it to the back of a motorcycle and roared out of the arena.
(With inputs from PTI)