Bombshell Confession! Quentin Tarantino Says He Knew About Harvey Sex Assault Claims
Oct. 19 2017, Published 10:29 p.m. ET
Famed director Quentin Tarantino broke his silence about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault allegations, admitting “I knew enough to do more than I did,” after his close friend was shamed in the scandal.
The director and the mogul, who partnered on Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, The Hateful Eight and the Kill Bill movies had a decades long relationship, with Weinstein hosting Tarantino’s engagement party weeks earlier.
But as the number of women came forward and accused Weinstein of assault, including rape, Tarantino finally spoke up.
“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,” he told The New York Times.
“I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard,” he said. “If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”
Tarantino described how he handled the news about Weinstein’s actions. “What I did was marginalize the incidents,” he told the outlet “Anything I say now will sound like a crappy excuse.”
A few Hollywood stars, including Meryl Streep, said they did not know about accusations about Weinstein.
“Everyone who was close to Harvey had heard of at least one of those incidents” he said. “It was impossible they didn’t.”
Tarantino said that his girlfriend, Mira Sorvino, told him about her assault by Weinstein.
“I was shocked and appalled” he said. “I couldn’t believe he would do that so openly. I was like: ‘Really? Really?’ But the thing I thought then, at the time, was that he was particularly hung up on Mira.”
“I thought Harvey was hung up on her in this Svengali kind of way. Because he was infatuated with her, he horribly crossed the line.”
He said he believed Sorvino would be safe given their relationship. “I’m with her, he knows that, he won’t mess with her, he knows that she’s my girlfriend.”
Tarantino told the Times that he knew about Rose McGowan’s settlement with Weinstein and described another actress’ bad experience with the movie mogul. He said he confronted Weinstein who offered the woman “a weak apology.” The actress declined to be identified but confirmed the account to the paper.
“I chalked it up to a ’50s-’60s era image of a boss chasing a secretary around the desk,” Tarantino said about Weinstein’s actions. “As if that’s O.K. That’s the egg on my face right now.”
Tarantino said he hope others would speak out about Weinstein. “I’m calling on the other guys who knew more to not be scared. Don’t just give out statements. Acknowledge that there was something rotten in Denmark. Vow to do better by our sisters.”
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