Drew Pinsky apologizes to Cruise, but not his lawyer

TV therapist Dr. Drew Pinsky has apologized to Tom Cruise for remarks he made in a magazine interview. But that hasn't exactly calmed the rhetoric from either side.

The background: In an interview with Playboy, Pinsky (VH1's "Celebrity Rehab") commented on the sometimes strange behavior of people in the public eye, saying such actions could stem from "childhood trauma."

"Take a guy like Tom Cruise," said Pinsky, who doesn't know Cruise and has never consulted with him. "Why would somebody be drawn into a cultish kind of environment like Scientology? To me, that's a function of a very deep emptiness and suggests serious neglect in childhood -- maybe some abuse, but mostly neglect."

That, unsurprisingly, didn't sit well with the Cruise camp. The "Mission: Impossible" star's lawyer, Bert Fields, ripped Pinsky in a statement, saying "He seems to be spewing the absurdity that all Scientologists are mentally ill."

Pinsky has apologized to Cruise, several media outlets report. "Dr. Drew meant no harm to Mr. Cruise and apologizes if his comments were hurtful," a statement from his rep says.

It's unlikely, though, that Pinsky and Fields will be exchanging bouquets anytime soon. In addition to calling Pinsky's comments absurd, Fields characterized Pinsky as an "unqualified television performer who is obviously just looking for notoriety" and "grotesquely unprofessional."

And here's the real kicker: Fields concludes by saying, "The last time we heard garbage like this was from Joseph Goebbels," Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister.

That prompted this response from Pinsky's rep: "Although Mr. Fields' intent is clearly to slander and discredit Dr. Drew, under no circumstances is Dr. Drew making a blanket diagnosis about Scientology nor Mr. Cruise, whom he does not know. Dr. Drew was simply using Mr. Cruise as an example of someone who is recognizable to help the public understand. Again, Dr. Drew meant him no harm."