Bronson Pinchot on "Homophobic" Cruise and "Abusive" Washington

Perfect Strangers star Bronson Pinchot spoke out against his past co-stars, calling Tom Cruise homophobic and describing working with Denzel Washington as a "dreadful experience," according to The A.V. Club.

Before rising to fame as wacky immigrant Balki in Strangers, Pinchot made his big-screen debut in 1983's Risky Business opposite an up-and-coming Cruise. Pinchot said he and fellow cast members "thought Tom [Cruise] was the biggest bore on the face of the Earth. He was tense and made constant, constant unrelated homophobic comments ... He always talked about himself like he was a mega-superstar; that was weird, too." 

Cruise's publicist, Cheryl Maisel, rebuffed Pinchot's accusations. "Obviously this is so far removed from who Tom Cruise is as a person, this must have been said in jest," she said in a statement.

See photos of Pinchot

Pinchot also shared his thoughts on Eddie Murphy, with whom he co-starred in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. By the series' third installment in the early '90s, Pinchot remembers a "low-spirited, low-energy" Murphy, who had suffered a string of unsuccessful films. "I don't know what started the funk, but it lasted a chunk of time, and that was in the belly of the funk, and he was just really sad."

Pinchot was even harder on Washington, who Pinchot claims was rude to him on the set of 1996 drama Courage Under Fire. "[Washington] was really abusive to me and everybody on that movie, and his official explanation was that his character didn't like me, but it was a dreadful experience. I spent my salary on time with my shrink just for helping me get through it."

It wasn't just leading men that Pinchot had problems with. He said "Bette Midler was such a b----" to First Wives Club director Hugh Wilson. "While he was directing, she would be rolling her eyes, pantomiming with her favorite actors, and she made it very difficult," he said.

But according to Pinchot, such behavior is still the exception rather than the rule. "[Tom Hanks] is a wonderful and genuine and lovely and down-to-earth person ... so it's not really true that big stars need to be driven and repulsive, because he's anything but," Pinchot said.
Murphy's rep would not comment on the story and call to reps for Washington and Midler were not returned.

What do you think about Pinchot's claims?