Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone was strutting Wednesday, the day after his harsh public dismissal of superstar Tom Cruise sent shivers through Hollywood and destroyed the feel-good spirit that had imbued his company's Paramount Pictures studio this summer.
For Redstone, a slight bump in Viacom's stock price Wednesday outweighed any hangover that his blunt remarks may have caused. Redstone said he was justly reassuring Wall Street that Paramount would not squander profits by overpaying stars at a time when investors worry about Hollywood largesse. "It's the first time in a long time that Viacom was up more than CBS, which means that Wall Street liked the message," said Redstone, referring to the media companies he controls -- CBS Corp. and Viacom. "I don't see that any damage was done by what I said."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday August 25, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 48 words Type of Material: Correction
Paramount and Tom Cruise: An article in Thursday's Business section and some copies of the Patrick Goldstein column in today's Calendar section about Paramount Pictures Corp. and Tom Cruise severing ties misstated the age of Sumner Redstone, chairman of Paramount parent Viacom Inc. He is 83, not 84.
Viacom shares rose 19 cents Wednesday, closing at $36.63, in an otherwise down day for the market.
But Redstone's priorities hurt morale at Paramount Pictures, which was beginning to enjoy some success after a year marked by management turmoil, cost cutting and box-office disappointments. The studio will make money on the wacky comedy "Nacho Libre," starring Jack Black, and Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," which opened this month to critical acclaim.
"We were starting to hit our stride, everyone was feeling great, and then this Tom Cruise fiasco hits," said a top executive who works for Redstone and was annoyed by Cruise's dismissal. "The Cruise story is front-page news in papers all over the world, yet Redstone is crowing about his stock price being up 15 cents. That's not what people in this town want to hear."
Indeed, Redstone's rebuke was seen in Hollywood as undercutting the authority of Paramount Chairman Brad Grey and Viacom Chief Executive Tom Freston, who were caught off guard by the remarks. Redstone, grabbed the headlines by announcing that Cruise, 44, would be let go because of his erratic behavior. Leading up to Paramount's release of "Mission: Impossible III," Cruise professed his love for his fiancee by jumping on a couch on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and attacked the use of antidepressants and other drugs.
Redstone, 84, acknowledged he upstaged his managers.
"Tom Freston should have made the announcement, but it was apparent to me he didn't want to, and I understand why: Because he's in the talent business," said Redstone, who went out of his way Wednesday to praise both Freston and Grey for re-energizing Paramount after a fallow period.
