I totally disagree. The point of a gag like this is not that the act itself is funny, but that the reaction of an overly-serious pompous ass of an actor is funny, and it is!!

If Cruise had laughed this off like anybody with the slightest sense of humor, this bit wouldn’t work at all and I would agree that it was a waste of time, but watching him switch from “Hey, my face is wet” to “Don’t you know that I’m Tom freaking Cruise, the smartest man and greatest actor time has ever known?!!” is friggin’ hilarious.

I completely agree that Tom Cruise has proven himself to be a wacko, particularly now that he’s absolutely fallen off the tracks.  BUT--he was sprayed in the face by an unknown person with something wet.  In the current state of the world, it was a scary and stupid thing to do.  Just because you shock someone, even a jerk celebrity, doesn’t mean it’s funny.

This sort of thing really gets back to the idea that true comic genius - and great jokes - are a true craft. Any dufus can make a dick joke or a racist joke or spray someone with water, you can train a monkey to do the latter. It doesn’t take imagination and creativity to be cruel. That’s why comedians like Andrew Dice Clay have no staying power and why comedians like Robin Williams, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters are so loved. Don’t get me wrong, so called low comedy is an art form and there is a whole lot of room for physical comedy and profanity in humour. The great comedians find ways to make connections with the audience, not by alienating their subjects. Robin Williams said it best with his twist on the classic comedic line - “Joke ‘em if they can’t take a fuck”! - See, no dicks, stereotypes, or sprayed water in that line!