Brooke Shields Says Tom Cruise Apologized For Talking About Postpartum Depression, Attacked Her ‘Because He Could’
Almost 20 years after receiving criticism from Tom Cruise for her “irresponsible” approach to treating postpartum depression, Brooke Shields is opening up about the apology she “eventually” got from the Golden Globe-winning actor.
In her new memoir, “Brooke Shields Not Allowed to Grow Old: Thoughts on Growing Old as a Woman,” Nominated for a Golden Globe detailed Cruise’s apology after his explosive interview with former “Today” host Matt Lauer in 2005, saying the “Top Gun” actor attacked her “because he could.”
During the interview, Cruise claimed that Shields’ prescription for postpartum depression “doesn’t cure anything.”
Brooke Shields says Tom Cruise “eventually” apologized for his remarks about her treatment for postpartum depression. (Getty Images)
“There’s no such thing as a chemical imbalance. What I’m saying about Brooke is there’s misinformation out there,” Cruise told Lauer at the time. “She doesn’t understand the history of psychiatry.”
In response, Shields wrote a comment for The New York Timescalling Cruise’s comments “a disservice to mothers everywhere.”
“I couldn’t stand the sound [daughter] Rowan was crying, and I was dreading the moments when my husband would bring her to me,” Shields wrote at the time. “I wanted her to disappear. I wanted to disappear. At my lowest point, I thought about swallowing a bottle of pills or jumping out of my apartment window.”
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“I couldn’t believe it when the doctor told me that I was suffering from postpartum depression and gave me a prescription for the antidepressant Paxil. I wasn’t keen on taking drugs. In fact, I stopped taking them too soon and had a relapse that almost caused me to crash my car into a wall with Rowan in the back seat. But medication, along with weekly therapy, is what saved me – and my family.”
“Eventually Tom Cruise apologized to me…said he was sorry and felt cornered by Matt Lauer and attacked me just because he could.”
Shields wrote an op-ed for The New York Times after Cruise’s explosive 2005 interview. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Shields said Cruise’s comments showed a clear “lack of understanding” about postpartum depression.
“Comments like those made by Tom Cruise are a disservice to mothers everywhere,” she added. “To suggest that I was wrong to take medication to deal with my depression and that I should have been taking vitamins and exercising instead shows a complete lack of understanding of postpartum depression and childbirth in general. If any good can come from Mr. Cruise’s ridiculous rant, let’s hope will give much-needed attention to a serious illness.”
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Shields admitted in her book that if the comments had been made before she became a mother, she would have “kept silent”.
“I would ignore his ridiculous ramblings,” she wrote, per Entertainment Weekly. “I might have been content to sit by while this very famous man hijacked my experience to further his own (deluded) agenda. I would have been content to let his behavior speak for itself.”
Brooke Shields says she took issue with Cruise’s remarks for herself and for other women facing criticism. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
But Shields insisted she was fighting back for herself and “the women who suffered from the irrational and dangerous comments of an unschooled actor who spoke extremely deeply.”
“In the end, Tom Cruise apologized to me,” she wrote. “Not publicly, which would be the right thing to do, but he came to my house and said he was sorry, that he felt cornered by Matt Lauer and that he attacked me basically because he could. It wasn’t the best thing in the world sorry, but that’s what he was capable of and I accepted it.”
A representative for Cruise did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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