Cruise says views ‘came out wrong’

Tom Cruise says his couch-jumping on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” seemed to set off a “confluence” of bad publicity for him, but he’s not sure he would take it back.

“That was a moment, and it was real, and I don’t know if I would [do it differently]. I really don’t,” Cruise said during an hourlong interview with Winfrey taped in his Telluride, Colo., home.

During the show, broadcast Friday, Cruise said his antics on Winfrey’s show three years ago were an authentic way of expressing his feelings for Katie Holmes.

About a month after his last appearance on Winfrey’s show in May 2005, Cruise criticized Brooke Shields for taking anti-depression drugs after the birth of her child. He also berated “Today” host Matt Lauer for suggesting that psychiatric treatment might help some patients.

Cruise, 45, told Winfrey he was feeling “pressed” during the interview and that his concern was that “child drugging” needs to be “the parents’ choice.”

But when Winfrey pointed out that Cruise specifically appeared to be criticizing the use of medication to treat postpartum depression -- indicating depression could be treated with vitamins and exercise -- he said he regretted that his views “came out wrong.”

“I personally don’t [believe in antidepressant drugs]. . . . But I think that people have the -- it’s their decision. When you look at something, it’s an individual’s right to make a decision on what they’re going to do with their life,” he said.