The Govenors Awards were held last night in Hollywood. The Governors Awards are the stand-alone ceremony held for the special Oscars given in association with the Academy Awards. Instead of giving the specialty and Lifetime Achievement Oscars during the Academy Awards ceremony, now AMPAS does this stand-alone ceremony which has become hugely popular, and a major event on the awards-season calendar. Unfortunately, we only have these Getty pics, so I’m sorry about that!
This year, AMPAS gave special Oscars to Tom Cruise, Debbie Allen, Dolly Parton and Wynn Thomas (Dolly skipped the ceremony but video-conferenced in). Tom has been Oscar-nominated four times – and I still sort of think he should have won for Magnolia – but Tom’s later career has seen him become a major cheerleader for all movies and the theatrical experience, and Hollywood loves that. Debbie Allen is the famous actress, dancer and choreographer, and Wynn Thomas is one of the first Black production designers, and he’s worked on productions directed by Spike Lee and Ron Howard, and he also worked on films like Hidden Figures and King Richard. Here’s some of what happened for Cruise’s honorary Oscar:
Though the black-tie affair is a long event at the end of a grueling weekend in Hollywood, most attendees this year stayed to the bitter end, since Cruise’s Oscar was saved for last. Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Mexican filmmaker who directed Cruise in a not-yet-titled 2026 film, delivered a powerful tribute in which he declared, “Tom Cruise doesn’t just make movies, he is movies,” and added, “This may be his first Oscar, but from what I have seen and experienced, it will not be his last.” Then, following a lengthy montage of Cruise’s work over the past 45 years, the 63-year-old, who has been Oscar-nominated three times for acting and once for producing, walked to the podium as the Mission: Impossible theme music blared, and was greeted with a lengthy standing ovation.
Cruise thanked “the studios, the agencies, the artists and the storytellers,” as well as stunt teams, theater owners and, above all, audiences, of whom he said, “Without you, none of this has meaning for me.” He asked that anyone in the room who has worked with him please stand up, and many did — including his tablemates Steven Spielberg (Minority Report), Jerry Bruckheimer (the Top Gun movies), Christopher McQuarrie (the Mission: Impossible franchise) and CAA agent Kevin Huvane — as he applauded them. “I want you to know — please know — that I carry you with me — each of you — and you are a part of every frame of every film that I have ever made or ever will make. And I want you to know that I will always do everything I can for this artform — to support and champion new voices and to protect what makes cinema powerful, hopefully without too many more broken bones.”
Yeah, Tom deserves this. It’s like when they gave an honorary Oscar to Harrison Ford a few years ago – these are the old-guard movie stars who have never been replaced or copied. And like Harrison, Tom never won a competitive Oscar, so I’m glad they’re making a point to honor these old-school movie stars when they still can. I’m including Tom’s videos below, and you can see Debbie Allen’s speech here and Wynn Thomas’s speech here.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Happy for Cruise and Allen not aware of the other artists contribution.
Glenn close hopefully will get an honorary oscar next year.
I am still mad she has never won.
I’m saltier than Lot’s wife that Glenn wasn’t awarded the honorary Oscar before Cruise.
Two things can be true at the same time but personally I can’t separate him from his role as a leader in scientology and all the harm that cult does.
Exactly.
He is the face and a driving force in a cult that literally imprisons and kills people. Hard pass from me.
🎯
So. No surprise z o o m appearance of peggs congratulating tom
Kinda weird that his older kids weren’t there. I guess it would’ve brought more attention to the whole Suri situation?
he’s a cult leader propped up by slave labor
As a long time fan I am so happy that he finally got that oscar. Hopefully he’ll get another one soon. Sad not one of his kids showed up to support. Too busy? Not into cameras , their photos being in magazines?
Cruise is a twisted creep. Most enthusiastic brand ambassador for one of the world’s most dangerous & violent cults. And pretty much everyone knows this. But hey, he stays giving to the corporate overlords he runs & who run him. Sound like any other men in our present headlines?? How perfect it is for the industry to be giving him a big ol public bj right now. RIP, Irony.
Let’s not forget how he ghosted his youngest daughter.
He’s a creep.
Not a fan! Scientology has ruined anything he has ever done for me! I don’t watch his movies except for his two top gun flicks. And I watched the first one before realizing he was involved in Scientology and only watched the 2nd one because of others who were brought back for the second one! I live really close to the Scientology compound in Hemet! Scary place and I had a bad experience with Scientology when I was young! Bad juju! I can’t believe some of the great actors who haven’t ever won a Oscar! They should have received one before this joker!
Tom Cruise looks like a wax figure of Tom Cruise.
Big day for Scientology !
Too bad he’s an awful person.