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About
The Tom Cruise "Proceed" 4chan Post or Tom Cruise Leaning On Tree is a viral post made to 4chan in 2017 where an anonymous user shares a photo of actor Tom Cruise leaning against a tree, along with a story claiming that they took the photo after Cruise caught them masturbating in the bushes, Cruise allegedly saying to them, "Proceed." The story is not true and the photo originates from a 2010 post to a German blog. The post garnered viral spread online throughout the 2020s, inspiring memes referencing the post.
Origin
On April 7th, 2017, a photograph of Tom Cruise leaning against a tree, sourced from a July 22nd, 2010 article published on the German blog Eisbachwelle about a trip Cruise took to Munich, Germany, was posted to an unknown board on 4chan. The anonymous user who posted the image wrote in the post:
sometimes i masturbate in bushes in a public park. one day i notice a person behing me. it was tom cruise. all he said was "proceed". i felt uncomfortable and took a picture and left.On August 7th, 2021, iFunny user fre_sh_avo_ca_do posted a screenshot of the 4chan post, garnering over 32,000 Smiles in four years.
!Spread
The post continued to spread throughout the 2020s.
On May 20th, 2022, Redditor u/diablesie reposted the post to the /r/Greentext subreddit, garnering over 2,600 upvotes in three years.
On May 13th, 2025, Instagram user male reposted the image, garnering over 93,000 likes in five months. On May 18th, 9GAG user filmarin posted a meme including the post that gained over 80 upvotes in the same span of time.
On November 2nd, Instagram users trashcanpaul and houseofgsming co-posted a new variation of the meme with altered text, garnering over 133,000 likes in three days.
The text is taken from an October 31st, 2025 post by X user @pr0spector777, which garnered over 220,000 likes in five days.
Various Examples
English (US) ·