Quentin Tarantino has responded to an incendiary 2003 interview with Howard Stern in which he said claimed Roman Polanski’s 13-year-old assault victim Samantha Geimer “wanted to have” sex with the then 43-year-old Chinatown director. After the audio clip resurfaced, Tarantino issued a statement apologizing to Geimer. From Variety:
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. 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.
I am sorry Samantha.
Quentin Tarantino
The backlash over the Stern clip occurred following a New York Times interview with Uma Thurman in which the Kill Bill star discussed incurring permanent injuries during an unsafe stunt she says Tarantino badgered her into performing. Thurman later clarified that she had resolved the issue with Tarantino personally and was more angry with the producers, including then Miramax head Harvey Weinstein, who she accused of conspiring to cover up the car crash. Tarantino later acknowledged his role in the botched stunt, telling Deadline it was “the biggest regret of [his] life.”
Compounding the backlash to the Stern segment was the quote Tarantino gave to New York Times in October regarding sexual misconduct allegations against his frequent producer Weinstein.
“I knew enough to do more than I did,” Tarantino said after decades of harassment and assault allegations against his longtime collaborator surfaced. “There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things. I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”
Tarantino has a film on the Manson murders in pre-production, and it is scheduled to hit theaters in 2019, on the 50th anniversary of actress Sharon Tate’s death.
