Cruise's war of words continues

The war of words over Tom Cruise's split from Paramount Pictures continues, with his lawyer accusing the company chairman of making "disgusting" and "vicious" comments.

Bert Fields told US newspapers he thought Sumner Redstone, whose company Viacom owns Paramount, had either "lost it completely" or been given "breathtakingly bad advice" when he criticised the actor's behaviour. "It will, I believe, be emblematic of a self-destruction of a mighty mogul," he said.

But 83-year-old Redstone hit back, saying: "I knew what I was doing. And I did the right thing." Redstone said he had "sent a message to Hollywood" to "just say no".

He reckons they are over-paying for stars and that the system means the stars get it all, and the studios are lucky to stay alive.

"That system will not exist at Paramount", he added.