Why Tom Cruise wasn't at the Oscars

There were a number of A-list celebrities conspicuous by their absence at the Academy Awards on Sunday, none more so than Tom Cruise.

The superstar actor was snubbed in the nominations for Best Actor for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, but he was still expected to appear at the ceremony as he was a producer on the sequel to Top Gun, which did earn a nomination for Best Picture.

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In the days preceding the Oscars, it was announced that Cruise was not going to appear and speculation started as to why.

Now, Variety reports that he decided to skip the ceremony as he received information that Judd Apatow had helped Jimmy Kimmel write his opening monologue.

Apatow had previously made numerous jokes at Cruise's expense at another awards ceremony.

It has since been confirmed that Apatow did not write any part of Kimmel's monologue, however.

“Jimmy loves Tom. Tom had just been on the show the week before,” Jimmy Kimmel Live! executive producer Molly McNearney said

“And they talked about seeing each other and Jimmy was excited to tell him that we got real Navy pilots to do the flyover at the top of the Oscars. Jimmy was really disappointed he didn’t come.

“Jimmy tends to send his monologue to a group of people he trusts, comedy writers and comedians. They don’t help with the monologue. They just tell him like that joke’s working, that joke’s not working. No, Judd was not writing or doing anything for the monologue.”

Oscars Scientology joke

Kimmel did make one reference to Cruise's life in Scientology.

While mentioning the topless American football scene in Maverick, Kimmel said "L. Ron Hubba Hubba" - a reference to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

McNearney revealed that this joke would not have been made if Cruise was in attendance.

“No. We had about a three-minute chunk of the monologue dedicated to Tom Cruise, honouring him and his role in reviving the movie industry," she continued.

"We were so disappointed when we learned a few days before the Oscars that he wouldn’t be there. Jimmy loves him and really wanted to celebrate him.”

Everything Everywhere All at Once beat Top Gun; Maverick to Best Picture at the climax of the ceremony.