Tom Cruise Faces More Negative News Amid Report His & Taylor Swift’s Friendship Is Taking a Controversial Turn

Tom Cruise’s public image is pretty favorable, but he’s not scandal-free. There’s his devotion to Scientology, which allegedly led to him not having a relationship with his daughter, Suri (she has since dropped his last name). Those are both big strikes, but he’s managed to maintain a mostly positive reputation.

But even that isn’t helping his latest project, Digger. The film sees Cruise (in heavy prosthetics) play the titular oil tycoon whose company is responsible for an environmental disaster. The film also stars Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons.

Tom Cruise Faces More Negative News Amid Report His & Taylor Swift’s Friendship Is Taking a Controversial Turn.

Meanwhile, the New York Post claimed Digger is Cruise’s “first real stinker in nearly 10 years,” adding that “audiences will urgently want to leave after the first five minutes.” But it’s not just the movie they criticize: “This is not simply a case of poor Tom being trapped in a lousy movie. He’s just not very good, even as a cartoony caricature with no depth.”

It’s probably safe to say that those Oscar aspirations for Cruise are at this point, dead in the water.

As a result, Cruise is reportedly turning to a friend for help: Taylor Swift. The two recently made headlines when they were seen hanging out at a Kansas City Chiefs game. According to RadarOnline, Cruise left the game wanting to make an “old-school, age-gap rom-com” with Swift.

“Tom genuinely wants to find something he could do with Taylor, and an old-school romantic comedy is one idea that has been talked about,” a source told the outlet. “There is talk he is thinking it should be an age-gap romance featuring their characters, but done in a very ‘woke’ way. The thinking would be a sophisticated, funny throwback to the kind of star-driven romantic comedies Hollywood used to make regularly, but with a modern edge.”

Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice prevously claimed that Cruise “knows exactly what he’s doing,” by getting close to Swift. A source explained, “Taylor is the center of popular culture. Being in her orbit instantly puts Tom in front of a younger generation that knows his name but may not necessarily buy a ticket to his movies.”

Swift, reportedly, understands the game. “Taylor isn’t naïve. She knows Tom benefits enormously from being photographed with her,” the insider told Shuter. “But she grew up watching stars like Tom. There’s something surreal about Tom Cruise suddenly wanting into her world.”