In what may be seen as belated attempt to re-polish his ‘bruised’ public image, Tom Cruise has finally come out to personally apologize for his public criticism of Brooke Shields’ use of antidepressants. This was disclosed by the actress herself in The Tonight Show (with Jay Leno).

Ms. Shields, who suffered from postnatal depression following the birth of her first child, said that the Church of Scientology stalwart had come over to her house recently and made ‘a heartfelt apology’.

However, the actor’s spokesperson made it clear that the apology should not be taken as a sign that the controversial actor had in any way changed his stand on antidepressants, which he continues to regard as ‘unhealthy’.

With all of the things that had been heaped on Mr. Cruise’s plate, it seems apparent that whatever he does or says (right or wrong) will always end up in the papers these days. And as most of the controversial hullabaloos that have surrounded him stemmed mostly from his own actions and statements, it’s not hard to see why. Which makes it even more imperative for the actor to do something (like top-bill a huge box office hit or maybe save about 100 lives or something) to assure the public that — contrary to what most of his detractors claim — his star remains undimmed.