The Village People cowboy Randy Jones has been forced to scrap an anecdote about Tom Cruise from his new memoir Macho Man, after editors feared action from the superstar's lawyers. Jones' book lifts the lid on the Y.M.C.A. band's 1980s heyday, and his wild lifestyle away from the stage and screen.

The 55-year-old wanted to include a tale about the night he partied with a 20-year-old Cruise, before the actor found fame in 1983 film Risky Business - but it failed to make the cut because of legal fears, editors tell the New York Daily News. Jones says, "Tom and I had the same management company at the time. I met him at a party Andy Warhol threw in Atlanta."

However, the book - due for release later this year - does include the time Jones smoked drugs at legendary New York nightclub Studio 54 in the presence of U.S. president Jimmy Carter's mother Lillian: "We were in the corridor, and someone was passing around a joint. They handed it to Lillian, and she looked horrified. She didn't take a puff, but she handed it to me very expertly."

-More Village People Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)