Why is it socially acceptable to publicly 'out' Tom Cruise and ridicule him for being a closeted homosexual, when doing this to practically anyone else would be considered severely homophobic and cruel?

so homophobia is ok if you don't agree with their other beliefs?

Of course not. South Park intertwined Tom Cruise's sexuality with Scientology, so people who grew up joking about Tom Cruise being in Stan's closet may still view him/those issues as one and think it's ok to joke about one because of the other. But personally I haven't seen a joke about Tom Cruise being gay in a long time - but I have seen plenty of well-deserved criticism about his involvement in Scientology.

So, to summarize, in the year of our lord 2022 -

  • It's never ok to speculate about someone's sexuality or out them, including Tom Cruise.

  • It is ok to criticize someone for being involved in a harmful organization.

/r/NoStupidQuestions Thread Parent