Tom Cruise’s highly controversial stance on psychiatric medications, therapy, and mental health problems has long held the attention of the public and the media. Public figures have blasted the actor for advocating against the benefits of drugs and his volatile interviews surrounding the topic have been educational about getting to know the actor on a deeper level, to say the least.
However, while Cruise comfortably sits on his side of the fence claiming to know about the history of psychiatry and being more informed about the subject than the medical professionals themselves, Joe Rogan who points out the same goes off on a tangent and throws a sly dig at the actor for his incontrovertible opinions.
Joe Rogan Comments On Tom Cruise’s Beliefs On Drug Use
The celebrity podcaster, comedian, and sports enthusiast, Joe Rogan has cultivated a reputation for speaking out on subjects that not only interest him but are essential to advocate for society. But along with his often informational takes on extensive matters, Rogan also holds a reputation for unflinchingly speaking his mind, however controversial the subject may be.
In an episode on The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcaster pulled up the 2004 Matt Lauer interview where Tom Cruise can be seen speaking in an increasingly erratic tone about the dangers of drug use. After pointing out his behavior as “wacky,” Rogan mentions, “Scientology is highly critical of psychiatric medication. They prefer you stay crazy.” Rogan further goes on to claim:
“He is right about a lot of it. He is definitely right about Adderall and Ridalin, that some people abuse it. But abuse, just because someone abuses it doesn’t mean [that the drug] doesn’t have uses.”
In the Today show interview, Tom Cruise claims that although people do not know about the history of psychiatry, they talk about it and advocate it based on the “misinformation” that is available to the masses. Cruise claimed that drug use only serves to “mask the problem” without actually addressing it. When Lauer brings up Brooke Shields and her claims about anti-depressants helping her with post-partum depression, Cruise launches into a rant about there being healthier ways to get better with “vitamins and exercise.”
Tom Cruise Can’t Keep His Cool About Drugs or Scientology
For the longest time, Tom Cruise has slyly (and often violently) broken away from his calm and collected personality that the public is so familiar with and presented an image that is not only volatile but uncomfortable to experience. The icy-cold conflict that he gets into with interviewers who dare to question his faith and beliefs, or bring up his past relationships has generated a slew of recorded moments that could be career-ending for a celebrity of his stature.
Of Tom Cruise’s several controversial and sensational interviews that have become infamous with time, there are two that sit at the very top: the Matt Lauer interview on the Today show and Peter Overton’s interview for 60 Minutes Australia.
Both of these were part of the actor’s promotional tour for his 2005 Steven Spielberg film, War of the Worlds. And in both interviews, Cruise can be seen getting visibly flustered, irritated, and getting his hackles up over issues like drug use/abuse, relationships, and Scientology. And while Peter Overton manages to handle an increasingly volatile Cruise with grace and a cool presence of mind (after being threatened with a pointed “Put your manners back in” by the actor), the Matt Lauer interview, however, gets only more infamous with time.
Source: Joe Rogan Experience