Tom Cruise Is Reportedly Banned From Buying a Bugatti, but Why? It's All About a Door
Tom found himself banned from buying a new Bugatti after a 2006 incident that onlookers found charming, but the luxury brand did not.
Published Nov. 14 2024, 5:05 p.m. ET
Actor Tom Cruise is known the world over for his never-ending hit movies, charming smile, and a controversy or two over the years mostly centered around his beliefs in Scientology and his ex-wives.
But there's another controversy that Tom stumbled into with both feet, and it involves a luxury car company: Bugatti. The Mission: Impossible superstar and Hollywood hunk is now reportedly banned from buying a Bugatti, and the reason is a bit of a head-scratcher. In the world of the ultra-wealthy, the brand picks the customers in more ways than one. This means they can also choose to nix customers if they don't find them worthy for whatever reason.
Tom Cruise deals with a different car door while filming 'Mission: Impossible 7'
Here's why Tom Cruise has been banned from buying a Bugatti.
As it turns out, Tom has been banned from the Bugatti customer list for nearly 20 years. It all started in 2006 when Tom created a spectacle around getting his then-wife Katie Holmes out of his car, a Bugatti Veyron, which retailed for around $2 million when he purchased it in 2005. It was a snappy little ultra-luxury sports car with all the style that early '00s Tom Cruise was known for.
Back in the day, Tom used to enjoy driving around Los Angeles in his Bugatti and waving to his fans from his exorbitantly-priced car. On that fateful day in 2006, Tom pulled up to an event and walked around to get his wife out of the car. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to open the door and struggled with it a few times before successfully opening it.
Although onlookers thought it charming and didn't take it personally, Bugatti did. They reportedly put him on a blacklist to prevent him from buying zero-kilometer cars from their dealerships, which means he was iced out of all new Bugatti purchases.
Other stars have been blacklisted by Bugatti, too.
Of course, Tom isn't alone on the Bugatti blacklist, which is a real and very bizarre thing. Bugatti is all about appearances and reputation, so if they feel that their name is being tarnished by association, they will cut a customer off without a second thought. After all, there's no lack of wealthy patrons to purchase new Bugattis even with their blacklist growing by the year.
On the list of "never buys" is fighting titan Floyd Mayweather, producer and talent guru Simon Cowell, and Flo Rida.
Several stars are also banned from buying Ferraris, such as Justin Bieber. But for now at least, Tom Cruise is still allowed to purchase a new Ferrari.
It may seem strange to the average person when a luxury car company chooses the customer based on seemingly arbitrary incidents, but it actually makes perfect sense. Luxury items are only worth what someone is willing to pay. And what someone is willing to pay can change rapidly based on how the customer base presents themselves. So while it seems odd, Bugatti banning Tom and some of the other stars actually makes perfect sense.
