Continuing the volley of public statements being exchanged by displeased Viacom deity Sumner Redstone and representatives of Tom Cruise, the once-beloved, couch-molesting archangel he cast out of his Melrose Avenue Paradise late yesterday, Redstone instructed a PR henchman to publicly scoff at Cruise producing partner Paula Wagner's insistence that Cruise/Wagner had secured independent financing from shadowy, unnamed hedge funds and had been planning to jilt Paramount first, telling the NY Times:

As for Mr. Redstone's allusion to Mr. Cruise's conduct, Ms. Wagner fired back, "I have no answer for a stupid statement." She speculated that Mr. Redstone was "trying to save face," having learned from Wall Street chatter of Mr. Cruise's hunt for alternative financing.

A spokesman for Mr. Redstone, Carl Folta, scoffed at Ms. Wagner's talk of new financial backers. "Did they give you a name?" he said.

We expect a appropriate riposte from Wagner shortly, finally revealing the just-formed Pillow Stuffed Full Of Money With Which We Are Going To Suffocate Sumner Redstone As He Naps Fund, Unlimited as their previously unnamed financial backers.

• Fired or Quit, Tom Cruise Parts Ways With Studio [NY Times]
• Previously: Redstone Vs. Cruise: Team Cruise Responds! With Outrage! [Defamer]

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