Tom Cruise has found himself “dragged” into David Beckham and Mark Wahlberg‘s epic $10 million dollar feud after attending Victoria Beckham‘s star-studded 50th birthday bash on Saturday night.
As the Mission Impossible star, 61, rocked up at Beckham’s wife’s star-studded birthday bash in London and reportedly did the splits on the dance floor cheered on by the likes of Eva Longoria and the reunited Spice Girls, he was likely oblivious to a storm brewing online.
Us Weekly confirmed that Beckham’s DB Ventures company filed a lawsuit against F45 Training, which is partially owned by his former pal Wahlberg.
The soccer star, 48, alleges in court documents shared by TMZ that F45 “duped” him into signing an endorsement deal but he never received the $10 million he was offered in contract negotiations.
He said he was promised stocks as compensation, which were never delivered after share prices seemingly plummeted.
And as he battles it out with the Boogie Nights actor, a contentious old video has resurfaced adding fuel to the fire.
Little did Beckham’s pal Cruise know that his appearance at the exclusive bash would only stir up his own old feud with Wahlberg and lead to talk of him siding with Beckham in this fresh one.
A 2013 clip started doing the rounds online showing Wahlberg appearing to slam the Top Gun actor for suggesting that sometimes it feels like acting is akin to serving as a soldier. When asked whether shooting a movie feels like being a soldier in Afghanistan, Cruise replied: “That’s what it feels like, and certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal.”
Wahlberg saw red at the suggestion that any actor would compare the craft to being on the front line.
A video obtained by TMZ showed the star speaking at a Q&A in Los Angeles ahead of a screening of his film Lone Survivor, in which he played a Navy SEAL.
“For actors to sit there and talk about, ‘Oh, I went to SEAL training’ — I don’t give a f–k about what you did,” he said. “You don’t do what these guys do. You just don’t. For somebody to sit there and say my job was as difficult as being in the military. How f–king dare you, while you sit in a makeup chair for two hours. I don’t give a s–t if you’re getting your ass busted. You get to go home at the end of the day. You get to go to your hotel room. You get to order f–king chicken or steak, whatever the f–k it is.”
Afterwards, he asked the Q&A host not to ask him any more questions while he calmed down before apologizing for “losing his s–t.”
However, Wahlberg then later claimed that it was a misunderstanding. During an interview with TMZ, he said: “I didn’t know that it was Tom Cruise that said that. Somebody just mentioned that people are [making that comparison]. I love Tom Cruise. I have much respect for Tom Cruise, but I have just as much respect for military guys, so it’s just unfair for anybody to comment on that.”
The pair have not crossed paths since nor have they embarked on any projects together. It hasn’t helped matters that Wahlberg has since said that he got into producing movies because he was tired of waiting around to be offered films that Cruise had rejected.
Fans sharing the resurfaced clip of his angry 2013 rant suggested that Cruise has shown his loyalty to old pal Beckham by pausing his hectic work schedule to attend the Saturday night bash amid the new drama.
Wahlberg’s lawyers have denied Beckham’s claims, calling the “fraudulent conduct” accusations baseless in a motion to dismiss according to The Sun.
“The 209-page, 610-paragraph SAC [complaint] tries to make up with length what it lacks in merit,” a response from Wahlberg’s lawyers read.
F45 launched in 2011 with Wahlberg, who owns more than 30 percent of the company, serving as chief brand officer. Beckham, who became pals with Wahlberg when he and Victoria moved to L.A. back in 2012, and former golfer Greg Norman sued F45 Training together in late 2022, but a judge ordered them to separate their lawsuits.
