Hollywood star Tom Cruise found himself embroiled in a controversy after an audio clip of the actor reprimanding the crew members of his upcoming film Mission: Impossible 7 amid the Covid-19 pandemic leaked online.

Calling out the crew members for not following the necessary safety protocols on the sets, Tom Cruise informed them that if he saw them do it again, they would be out. "And if anyone in this crew does it, that's it — and you too and you too. And you, don't you ever f-king do it again. They're back there in Hollywood making movies right now because of us. We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf-kers. That's it. No apologies. You can tell it to the people that are losing their f-king homes because our industry is shut down. We are not shutting this f-king movie down. Is it understood? If I see it again, you're f-king gone," the 58-year-old actor was heard saying in the leaked clip.

Speaking about the incident, Tom Cruise has now informed a news agency that he said what he had to say at that point and that he does not regret the rant as a lot was at stake. "I said what I said. There was a lot at stake at that point. But it wasn't my entire crew. I had the crew leave the set, and it was just select people," Tom Cruise reportedly told the outlet. Mentioning that the filming process continued despite the pandemic, he added, "And here we are, continuing to film. All those emotions were going through my mind. And for the whole crew to know that we'd started rolling on a movie was just a huge relief… It was very emotional."