The 'Hateful Eight' director has addressed the resurfaced footage of him defending Polanski on a 2003 appearance on the 'Howard Stern Show'
Quentin Tarantino is apologizing.
The Hateful Eight director issued a statement to ET addressing his resurfaced 2003 Howard Stern Show appearance where he defends director Roman Polanski's 1977 rape of a 13-year-old girl.
“I want to publicly apologize to Samantha Geimer for my cavalier remarks on The Howard Stern Show speculating about her and the crime that was committed against her," the 54-year-old filmmaker's statement read. "Fifteen years later, I realize how wrong I was. Ms. Geimer WAS raped by Roman Polanski. When Howard brought up Polanski, I incorrectly played devil’s advocate in the debate for the sake of being provocative. I didn’t take Ms. Geimer’s feelings into consideration and for that I am truly sorry."
"So, Ms. Geimer, I was ignorant, and insensitive, and above all, incorrect," he added. "I am sorry Samantha."
“He didn’t rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape...he had sex with a minor. That’s not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you’re talking about violent, throwing them down -- it’s like one of the most violent crimes in the world," Tarantino said in the 2003 clip, which sparked outrage from many including actress Busy Philipps. "You can’t throw the word rape around. It’s like throwing the word ‘racist’ around. It doesn’t apply to everything people use it for."
"She wanted to have it and dated the guy ... And by the way, we’re talking about America’s morals, not talking about the morals in Europe and everything," he continued. "Look, she was down with this."
The interview was resurfaced by Jezebel following Tarantino's response to Uma Thurman's recent New York Times interview where she detailed the scary on-set injury she suffered while making his 2003 film, Kill Bill.
In response to her interview, Tarantino said, "It's the biggest regret of my life, getting her to do that stunt."
Watch the video below for Tarantino's biggest Hollywood controversies.
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