Tom Cruise slams Paramount

Tom Cruise has hit back at Paramount, following their decision not to renew his contract.

Paramount chairman Sumner Redstone, yesterday said the reason for the split was the
'Mission: Impossible III' star's public outbursts.

He fumed to the Wall Street Journal newspaper: "His recent conduct has not
been acceptable to Paramount.

"As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his
deal."

However Cruise and his business partner Paula Wagner claim they withdrew their services from the company, rather than the other way around.

Wagner commented: "For some reason, Paramount has chosen to negotiate in the press. It's not really the most businesslike approach. With War of the Worlds and Mission: Impossible 3, Cruise helped earn nearly $1 billion for Paramount this year alone."

The actor's agent Rick Nicita added his opinion: "What this says about Paramount is self-evident. It was graceless and it was shocking and offensive."

Paramount chairman Sumner Redstone's comments are believed to refer to a string of headline grabbing
antics including Tom's now infamous couch-jumping display on 'Oprah', his
very public engagement to Katie Holmes and his controversial views on topics
such as the use of antidepressants, based on his Scientology beliefs.

Paula - who is Tom's partner in his movie company Cruise/Wagner
Productions - also insists that it was their decision to part-company with
the Paramount studio.