Tom Cruise thanks Steven Spielberg for his work to “preserve cinema”

Steven Spielberg was honored Thursday night at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2026 film benefit, and he brought out the big guns.

Tom Cruise, Martin Scorsese, Stephen Colbert, Emily Blunt, Steve Martin and Martin Short, Bruce Springsteen and Ariana DeBose all came to pay tribute to the filmmaker at the New York event presented by Chanel.

Cruise kicked things off by telling Spielberg that “ever since I was a young man, you have always been very generous to me, on the sets, but at home with (wife) Kate (Capshaw); the meals we had together, the hours you shared talking about your films and what inspired you to make them, the stories about you as a young boy with that eight-millimeter camera. You were kind enough to listen to my stories about the jobs that I took so I could buy the tickets to go see your films.” The star added that it was “an absolute privilege” to do two films together (.Minority report And War of the Worlds) and “I am grateful for what I have learned from you, for all the films you have given us, for your love of the public and for everything you have done to preserve cinema.”

During his time on the podium, Scorsese recalled being in the middle of production and starting to watch a film in his hotel room that “struck” him.

“I hadn’t really had any coffee yet and I had a moment of despair. ‘What am I doing with this? What am I doing working on these films like this when these young filmmakers are doing things like this? Beautiful, new visions. Look what they’re doing! New ways of filming, new ways of telling new stories. I’m so disconnected,'” he told the audience. “And then the title appeared: Lincoln. And so at that point, I got my coffee, put on my suit, and rushed over there to take another photo. Scorsese, teasing his friend “we’ve known each other since 1972, and how did we end up being 80 years old?”, added that Spielberg is “the epitome of the great filmmaker” and that “the films he made changed the world.”

When it came time to accept his honor, Spielberg returned the compliment by telling Scorsese he was “the GOAT of our entire generation, and you are the filmmaker I most hope to be when I grow up one day.” The filmmaker also spoke about having experienced “one of the best moments of my career” while making his recent release Disclosure dayand said that “being alone here is bad. Making a film is collaboration, and when I’m singled out on an evening like this, it reminds me that I’ve never been alone on any set, in any location, on any soundstage.”

The A-list guest list also included Drew Barrymore, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, Jeff Goldblum, Eve Hewson, Marcello Hernandez, John Krasinski, Donna Langley, Spike Lee, Lorne Michaels, Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelley, Zoe Saldaña, Christopher Walken and Michelle Williams, with DeBose on stage. “Somewhere“ Since West Side History and Springsteen making a surprise appearance to close the evening.

“One of the great pleasures on the Jersey Shore in 1975 was swimming at night, preferably naked, on one of those 90-degree, 80 percent humidity August nights, preferably with someone you wanted to have sex with,” Springsteen joked, and with the release of Jaws“Steven Spielberg fucked up everything. He really fucked up everything.”

Chanel – a long-time supporter of cinema and new voices – collaborated with MoMA on the 18th Annual Film Benefit, which raised funds to support the Museum of Modern Art’s film collection.