Tom Cruise paid a moving tribute to his attorney Bert Fields at a memorial event in Los Angeles where he opened up about how they met.
Cruise appeared in a short video address that was released to stars attending the service in Santa Monica in October.
He explained that they both attended a dinner party in London in 1988, hosted by actor Dustin Hoffman.
The two talked about “history” and “stories” before Cruise hired him on the spot to be his lawyer.
Fields, who died in August at his California home at the age of 93, rose through the Hollywood ranks and became a coveted lawyer for entertainment industry elites.
Throughout his career, which spanned almost seven decades, he portrayed goliaths such as Madonna, Warren Beatty, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, John Travolta, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and even Rupert Murdoch.
Tom Cruise on a night out in London in July 2022 nearly 44 years after first meeting Fields in 1998 the day before Rain Man premiered in the same city
Bert Fields (left), Annette Bening (center) and Dustin Hoffman (right) at a Fields book party Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes in Beverley Hills in 1998
When Cruise spoke, he called his friend and lawyer the most interesting man alive and an adventurer. He spoke of his ‘powerful intellect’ and his ‘great mind’.
Their first of many dinners together took place in London and was coordinated by Cruise’s Rain Man co-star Hoffman the day before the film premiered in 1988.
The two talked about history, in which Fields had a keen interest, and shared stories. “I’m very grateful for this moment,” Cruise said.
“I ended up talking to him all evening. He was simply the most fascinating person I have ever met.
During the duration of the dinner, Cruise was unsure of Fields’ connection to the band, but upon finding out that he was Hoffman’s attorney, he also requested legal services.
“He said absolutely,” Cruise recounted. In 2001, Cruise used Fields and the legal system to make it clear he was not gay.
He alleged defamation against erotic wrestler and gay porn actor Chad Slater, 25 at the time, who claimed his gay affair with the actor ended his marriage to Nicole Kidman, 33, to whom he had been married since 1990.
In a 2003 judgment, Cruise was awarded $10 million for the defamatory accusation Slater made in a French magazine.
Famed attorney Bert Fields dies aged 93 at his Malibu home
Fields was friends with Jeffrey Katzenberg whom he represented in action against Disney
He was perhaps best known for defending Michael Jackson when the King of Pop was charged with assault.
A pugnacious approach and ruthless style of cross-examining witnesses in court when settlement was not viable earned him a legendary reputation.
Fields has a history of bringing spooky action and winning some really big prizes for his clients. On more than one occasion, he clashed with Disney.
Michael Katzenberg, former CEO of DreamWorks and before that president of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, hired him in the early 90s after being fired by the company.
After a dramatic court stint in which Fields accused the Disney CEO of calling Katzenberg a “little dwarf,” Disney was humiliated by coughing up $250 million, three times the biggest payout the company has ever seen. industry has seen before.
Katzenberg said at the October memorial service that he would often go with Fields to the Grill on the Alley, a classic American steakhouse in San Jose, and pay for the meal, which would frustrate Fields.
However, on the day the $250 million settlement was granted, Fields allowed Katzenberg to take him out to dinner.
“When you’re a winner, you go out to dinner,” Katzenberg recalled, recalling Fields telling her during the service, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Bert Fields pictured in 2009 with his wife Barbara Guggenheim whom he married in 1991
With whispers of this heroic dust with Disney echoing in show business, he was then hired by Harvey and Bob Weinstein who wanted to separate their film production company Miramax from parent company Disney.
In March 2005, a settlement was announced in which Disney would keep the Miramax name along with its library of 550 films while the Weinsteins would get around $130 million to start a new production company.
“In the entertainment business, going into litigation without Bert Fields is like going into the Arctic without a jacket,” Weinstein told The New York Times.
Fields was also famous for living a similar lifestyle to many of his clients. He moved gracefully between his law firm in Los Angeles and his home in Malibu in a Bentley Arnage.
Fields was hired by Harvey and Bob Weinstein who wanted to separate their film production company Miramax from parent company Disney.
Fields and his wife attend the grand opening of Indiana Jones Adventure In Adventureland in 1995
Bert was also an avid author and published several books, some under a pseudonym and others under his own name. His third book was a biographical work on Richard III.
His fourth book was an analysis of the question of Shakespeare’s authorship.
He also wrote Destiny about Napoleon and Josephine, a short Shakespeare novel titled Shylock, and a biography of Elizabeth I titled Gloriana.
“I love you very much, I always will,” Cruise said at the end of his speech.
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