Tom Cruise celebrates Michael Caine’s 90th birthday after skipping the Oscars

Entertainment

By Nika Shakhnazarova

March 15, 2023 | 05:36

While skipping this year’s Oscars festivities, Tom Cruise couldn’t pass up an opportunity to celebrate Michael Caine’s 90th birthday.

The 60-year-old “Top Gun: Maverick” actor was noticeably absent from the 2023 Academy Awards on Sunday, despite the blockbuster being nominated for six awards.

But as the celebrities suited up and started for Hollywood’s biggest night, Cruise headed across the pond to attend Caine’s birthday celebrations in the UK.

Joining comedian David Walliams and Caine’s wife, Shakira, 75, Cruise was all smiles for an intimate dinner for the big day.

“Happy 90th birthday to the legendary Sir Michael Caine,” Walliams wrote on Instagram alongside a series of photos from the dinner.

Caine appeared to be healthy and in good spirits as he continues to recover from major spinal surgery to treat spinal stenosis – a condition caused by narrowing of the spinal canal resulting in back and neck pain.

The two-time Oscar winner, who relies on the aid of a walker, previously spoke about his back problems in 2021 – sparking speculation that he would retire.

Other snaps from his birthday showed Cruise putting his arm around the veteran actor as Walliams joined them for a snap.

The scaled-down affair featured a handful of A-listers, including celebrity chef Ruth Rogers and a mouth-watering chocolate cake and lots of red wine.

Cruise was MIA at Sunday’s ceremony because he reportedly wanted to avoid an “awkward run-in” with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, 55, from whom he divorced more than 20 years ago.

“Tom wasn’t there because she was there and he didn’t want a run-in,” a source told the Daily Mail on Monday.

But insiders close to Cruise told the outlet that his absence was “not personal” and instead the result of scheduling issues.

The Post has reached out to representatives for Cruise and Kidman for comment.

The prolific duo married on December 24, 1990 and adopted two children – Isabella, now 29, and Connor, now 27, both of whom are reportedly members of the Church of Scientology, like their father, Cruise.

Cruise filed for divorce in February 2001, citing “irreconcilable differences” after allegedly walking out on Kidman the same year.

Cruise married actress Katie Holmes, 44, in 2006 before divorcing in 2012.

Meanwhile, Kidman married country musician Keith Urban, 55, in 2006.

The happy couple share two daughters: Sunday Rose, 14, and Faith Margaret, 12.