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Quentin Tarantino is under fire once again, this time for comments he made in a newly unearthed interview where he defended director Roman Polanski and his unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
The Pulp Fiction director made the comments during a 2003 Howard Stern segment.
Tarantino was asked by Stern why Hollywood still embraced Polanski despite the alleged assault of a child.
Tarantino replied: “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. 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.”
Robin Quivers interjected in the interview that the girl was drugged.
Tarantino shot back, “No, that was not the case at all. She wanted to have it and dated the guy.”
Quivers responded, “She was 13!” To which Tarantino replied, “And by the way, we’re talking about America’s morals, not talking about the morals in Europe and everything.”
Stern seemed to have had enough.
“Wait a minute. If you have sex with a 13-year-old girl and you’re a grown man, you know that that’s wrong,” he said.
Quivers then said, “Giving her booze and pills.”
Tarantino replied, “Look, she was down with this.” He went on to call the child a “party girl.”
Stern and Quivers both responded with disgust.
The audio has resurfaced as Tarantino finds himself embroiled in controversy over a car crash that injured Kill Bill star Uma Thurman during the filming of that movie, which was released in 2003.
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Listen to the full audio below.
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