Tom Cruise squirted by microphone

The superstar is drenched at the premiere of his new film, 'War of the Worlds'.

Jun 20 2005

Tom Cruise was left shaken, soaked and stirred following a prank at the premiere of his latest film 'War of the Worlds' last night.

The 42-year-old superstar was drenched by a four-man news crew who squirted him with what appeared to be a microphone as part of a stunt for Channel 4.

A shocked Cruise kept his composure however, saying: 'That's incredibly rude – I'm here giving you an interview and you do that – it's incredibly rude.'

He then repeatedly called the aqua-assassin in question a 'jerk' before the crew were taken away by security, then arrested on suspicion of assault.

The four were later released on bail and will be questioned further today.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: 'The incident was for a new Channel 4 entertainment show, part of which involves playing comedy pranks on celebrities and on members of the public. The water squirting was not intended to cause offence and was very much in the spirit of fun.

'We hope Tom Cruise will be able to see the joke in the spirit in which it was intended.'

After the incident, the actor continued his hour-long Leicester Square walkabout with new  fiancé Katie Holmes, signing autographs and having his picture taken with some of the 5,000-strong crowd who had turned out for the premiere.

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