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generation69.com: Tom Cruise sacked by his film studio

Tom Cruise was sacked by his film studio amid allegations he is no longer a sex symbol.

The 'Top Gun' star was dropped by Paramount Pictures earlier this year and Sumner Redstone, the chief of Viacom - the company which owns Paramount - has now revealed why the decision was made.

Redstone claims his wife Paula's dislike of Cruise was the catalyst.

He said in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine: "Paula, like women everywhere, had come to hate him. The truth of the matter is I did listen to her.

"His behaviour was entirely unacceptable to Paula and to the rest of the world. He just didn't turn one woman off. He turned off all women, and a lot of men."

Redstone also cited Cruise's erratic behaviour, including his infamous 'couch-jumping' incident on Oprah Winfrey's chat show and his bizarre Scientology beliefs, as other reasons.

He added: "He was embarrassing the studio. And he was costing us a lot of money.

"When did I decide to fire him? I don't know. When he was on the 'Today' show? When he was jumping on a couch on 'Oprah'? He changed his handler, you know, to his sister - not a good idea.

"His behaviour cost us $113 million, $170 million on 'Mission: Impossible III'. It was the best picture of the three, and it did the worst.

"The explosion of publicly ending his contract was good. It sent a message to the rest of the world that the time of the big star getting all this money is over. And it is! I would like to think that what I did, or what we did, has had a salutary effect on the rest of the industry."