Quentin Tarantino responds to Uma Thurman's Kill Bill car crash claims: 'It's the biggest regret of my career'

'She blamed me for the crash and she had a right to blame me for the crash'

Quentin Tarantino has responded to Uma Thurman's claims that the director persuaded her to perform a stunt on the set of Kill Bill that left her severely injured.

Thurman was opening up to The New York Times about her alleged experience of misconduct at the hands of disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein when she claimed Tarantino - whom she had previously worked with on 1994 film Pulp Fiction - forced her to get behind the wheel of a stunt car she didn't feel comfortable driving that later crashed.

Tarantino has now given his version of events in a Deadline article describing it as one of the biggest regrets of his career adding that Thurman “had a right” to blame him for the crash (she has since defended the filmmaker in an Instagram post showing a video of the crash).

“I start hearing from the production manager, Bennett Walsh, that Uma is trepidatious about doing the driving shot. None of us ever considered it a stunt. It was just driving. None of us looked at it as a stunt. Maybe we should have, but we didn’t. I’m sure when it was brought up to me, that I rolled my eyes and was irritated. But I’m sure I wasn’t in a rage and I wasn’t livid. I didn’t go barging into Uma’s trailer, screaming at her to get into the car.

“Me and Uma had our issues about the crash. She blamed me for the crash and she had a right to blame me for the crash. I didn’t mean to do it. I talked her into getting in the car, I assured her the road was safe. And it wasn’t. The car might even have been dubious too even if I didn’t know that then. We had our issues about it.”

Tarantino claims that while he knew the footage was going to be shown, he didn't realise the article would paint him out as the person responsible for the actor's injuries. Thurman - after alleging that the studio refused to provide her lawyer with the crash footage - has since praised the director for digging it out.

“Quentin Tarantino was deeply regretful and remains remorseful about this sorry event, and gave me the footage years later so I could expose it and let it see the light of day, regardless of it most likely being an event for which justice will never be possible,” she wrote. “He also did so with full knowledge it could cause him personal harm, and I am proud of him for doing the right thing and for his courage.”

He added: "I can’t tell you…it was literally my happiest day this year, when Shannon [McIntosh] found that footage and sent it over to me and I knew I was going to be able to present it to Uma. I didn’t think for a moment she was just going to sit on it. She had her footage and she could show it to the world."

The director also elaborated on the reason why he spat in Thurman's face during one of the 2004 film's key scenes with claims that he didn't trust co-star Michael Madsen to pull the direction off correctly.

“Naturally, I did it,” he said. “Who else should do it? A grip? One, I didn’t trust Michael Madsen because, I don’t know where the spit’s going to go, if Michael Madsen does it. I talked to Uma and I said, look. I’ve got to kind of commit to doing this to you. I’ll only do it twice, at the most, three times. But I can’t have you laying here, getting spit on, again and again and again, because somebody else is messing it up by missing.

“Also, I’m the director, so I can kind of art direct this spit.”

Tarantino went onto discuss Thurman's allegations against Weinstein confirming he knew of the producer's behaviour.

“While we were getting ready to do Kill Bill, Uma tells me that he had done the same thing to her. That was when I realised there was a pattern, in Harvey’s luring and pushing attacks. So I made Harvey apologise to Uma. My confrontation [with Weinstein] was saying, you have to go to Uma. This happened. You have to apologise to her and she has to accept your apology, if we're going to do Kill Bill together.”

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