Tom Cruise and David Beckham were once close friends, when both lived in California but things have changed of late
As spectators settle down for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, many will be watching to see if Tom Cruise graces their screens.
The Hollywood icon is an ambassador for the forthcoming summer games, scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028, and there have been rumours of an appearance in Milan. Cruise has been in attendance at plenty of sporting events as a fan in the past.
The 63 year old actor has been photographed at NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL fixtures across the United States, many of those involving Los Angeles teams, while he routinely visits the UK and has become a familiar face in the Wimbledon stands. Previously, he was accompanied by former England skipper David Beckham at several of these sporting occasions.
However, the bond between the pair appears far less close now than when the pair lived a stone’s throw from one another in California. According to Hello!, an already close relationship grew even closer following the footballer and wife Victoria’s move to Los Angeles in 2007.
“I was on the phone to him for about an hour last night and the night before,” Beckham said in January 2007. “I asked for his advice because he’s a very wise man and a very good friend of mine. He couldn’t speak any higher about LA. It’s a big help to us to have friends in LA when we arrive.”
In Grant Wahl’s book ‘The Beckham Experiment’, Beckham revealed he and Victoria named their third child Cruz as a tribute to their friend. The British pair had also attended Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006, with the families maintaining their friendship in California and the Hollywood star turning up at Galaxy fixtures in Major League Soccer to support his friend.
Beckham and Cruise also established Midnight Boys Bike Club in 2010. The duo were reportedly riding matching F131 Hellcat Combat motorcycles at the time, whilst they were said to have welcomed other celebrities including Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt into their exclusive circle.
“He’d call at 11 at night, and we’d just hang, no problems, just riding our bikes,” Beckham later told GQ whilst discussing his experiences with Cruise. Yet, there has reportedly been a falling out between the former mates in the years since.
Claims in the United States, referencing anonymous sources, indicated Cruise’s association with the Church of Scientology played a role in the deterioration of his relationship with the Beckhams. Circumstances seemed to have shifted by 2024, when Victoria extended an invitation to the Top Gun actor for her 50th birthday party, although the extent to which the relationship has been revived are unclear and Cruise’s behaviour at that party turned some heads.
According to Victoria’s former Spice Girls bandmate Mel B, a dance from Cruise at the party was hardly what those in attendance expected. “We were at Victoria’s 50th birthday and her son, Cruz, started singing Mama on the guitar and David (Beckham) was like pushing us all up,” Mel B said. “All five of us were singing and then Tom Cruise made a circle and he did that dance from that movie, for some reason.
“We were all like dancing away and he goes ‘Come on, man! Come on!’ He starts getting together this circle. So he goes in the circle first – Tom Cruise! – and starts doing all this…,” she said whilst mimicking Tom’s movements. Mel added: “I went ‘Oh my God!’ and that’s why I left the circle. It was the weirdest dance.”
Cruise maintains a residence in California and has been participating in preparations for the summer games arriving in the Golden State. He executed a stunt during the closing ceremony of the Paris games in 2024 as part of a handover before the next summer edition.
There has been plenty of speculation he will be in Italy for Friday’s opening ceremony, with Snoop Dogg and other American celebrities having already travelled to Europe. However, Deadline reports that his attendance remains uncertain after he was seen around Los Angeles on Wednesday – less than 48 hours before the ceremony.
Watch Winter Olympics 2026 live on discovery+
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.
Throughout the games, the £3.99 discovery+ Entertainment subscription will provide access to TNT Sports 2, the home of 24/7 Olympic coverage.