Legendary actor and Hollywood veteran Tom Cruise gets embroiled in conspiracy theories online (Image via X/@tomcruise)

Legendary actor Tom Cruise recently found himself trending for all the wrong reasons. The Hollywood veteran is currently the subject of a wild story that has stemmed from various social media channels, prompting various reactions online.

The rumors date back to 2020, when a user, who goes by the alias Enty, took to the celebrity gossip blog Crazy Days & Nights to share an anecdote. They claimed to have seen a celebrity purchase some raw sea bass, and then take the fish as is, unwrapped, into a bathroom, and exit without it after about 10 minutes.

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Here’s all we know about the “Tom Cruise Fish Lore”

While Cruise was not directly mentioned, those chronically online traced the account back to the actor, given that he was in town at the time to film a movie.

What didn’t help was the numerous shots of him walking around town double-masked up. Enty, allegedly a popular Hollywood entertainment lawyer, posted the following tale:

“He was wearing his mask (actually two, one on top of the other) but I knew it was him because he had security with him and because I heard he was filming in the city.”

However, the plot thickened when another user chimed in to point out that they bore witness to something similar themselves back in 2016.

“I believe I know who the fish bathroom guy is,” they said. “I think it’s [him] … because I witnessed him doing something similar in 2016 in a supermarket in LA. Our actor was taking a while … because he was carefully examining every fish that the guy placed on the scale. Finally, he settled on one … The actor requested the man not wrap it up, so that’s actually the only reason why I followed him. I thought maybe they were filming a movie or something and they had an emergency need for a new prop.”

According to the user’s account, they noticed the actor walk into the bathroom with the fish in hand and a bodyguard behind him. Once again, the two walked out with no aquatic being in sight. The user then allegedly walked into the men’s room, only to find it in the garbage, “wrapped in a massive amount of paper towels.”

Curiously, the story didn’t stop there, as yet another user online joined the discussion:

“Your previous blind item [reminded] me of what I saw in my Beijing supermarket … many years ago. One day, maybe in 2013 or maybe 2014, I see man go to [the] fresh fish counter and order one fish. He had two black-[clothed] men by his side and had sunglasses over his eyes. He [spent] many minutes looking at the fish selection, and then he [ordered] one whole fish called pompano.”

A pompano fish is one without teeth. The narrative then goes on to reveal that the user had seen the same species, in the same bin, the day before as well.

The internet reacts, as users online claim their “day has been ruined”

Regardless of what the reality may be, leave it to the internet to jump to conclusions. And so, there has been a flurry of speculation online, with many positing their own theories about the same.

“i’m traumatized by the tom cruise fish allegations….,” someone on X commented.

“TOM CRUISE DOES WHAT WITH A FISH??!!!!” another was shocked.

“Tom Cruise did what with fish,” another questioned.

“PSA, If you stumble upon the Tom Cruise fish lore posts I HIGHLY recommend you keep scrolling!!!” someone else advised.

Online, users were seemingly appalled to learn of the “Tom Cruise fish lore.”

“thanks tiktok but I really didn’t need that tom cruise fish lore,” another stated.

“We’re saying Tom Cruise did WHAT with fish?” yet another exclaimed with disbelief.

“I did not have Tom Cruise loving fish a little too much on my 2024 bingo card,” another shared.

Scores of others online began flooding the platform to jest at the actor’s expense with memes and cutthroat remarks.

The veteran himself has yet to respond to the rumors, and nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing.