Another celebrity opens his mouth once too often

Tom Cruise is a perfect example of why some people love to hate celebrities.

Did you see his interview with Matt Lauer on the “Today” show earlier this week? Cruise came across as a self-centered, egotistical know-it-all.

He was almost as rude and obnoxious as some of the people who routinely speak at T.O. City Council meetings.

On the subjects of psychotherapy and the use of antidepressants, Cruise repeatedly told Lauer that he knew more—lots more—than Lauer about both topics. Lauer, Cruise said, didn’t know anything about either one. Cruise bragged that he knew the history of psychiatry and said that Lauer didn’t. Cruise implied that all mental problems can be treated with diet, vitamins and exercise.

Cruise’s arrogance was remarkable for someone who’s never been elected.

It was like watching a child having a temper tantrum, screaming and rolling in the aisles of a store. You almost wanted Lauer to march Cruise outside to give him a “time out.”

Cruise was the epitome of a pampered-rotten child.

Are certain medicines overprescribed? Yes. But it’s ridiculous to denounce them with one broad stroke of a paintbrush. And psychotherapy isn’t voodoo.

While Lauer and his sidekick, Katie Couric, probably deserve an occasional comeuppance, this wasn’t the right time, the right place or the right topic.

Hollywood gossipers are probably wondering if Cruise permanently damaged his acting career.

Unless he apologizes, we hope so.

Top Gun, on national television, took dead aim and shot himself between the eyes.