Hollywood’s greatest directors usually let their movies do the talking.
Yet not Quentin Tarantino, who, despite boasting a plethora of Academy Awards, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, has a reputation as cinema’s most outspoken auteur.
This week, the filmmaker pushed back after actress Rosanna Arquette criticised his use of the N-word in his films as ‘racist and creepy.’
The two-time Oscar-winner, 62, in a statement to the Daily Mail, implied that the 66-year-old actress made the remarks as a means of clout chasing.
Yet this is not the first time Tarantino has butted heads with others during his career.
Here, the Daily Mail takes a look at all of the director’s feuds and clashes.
Despite boasting a plethora of Academy Awards , BAFTAs and Golden Globes, Quentin Tarantino has a reputation as cinema’s most outspoken auteur
This week, the filmmaker pushed back after actress Rosanna Arquette (pictured) criticised his use of the N-word in his films as ‘racist and creepy.’
Most recently, he accused Arquette of a ‘decided lack of class’ for publicly criticising his work after he had employed her.
He referred to the wave of media coverage the comments from Arquette received in his reply.
He said: ‘Dear Rosanna, I hope the publicity you’re getting from 132 different media outlets writing your name and printing your picture was worth disrespecting me and a film I remember quite clearly you were thrilled to be a part of?’
Tarantino was critical of Arquette – who played the role of drug dealer Lance’s (Eric Stoltz) wife Jody in the 1994 movie – for bashingthe motion picture more than three decades after its release.
‘Do you feel this way now? Very possibly’ Tarantino said. ‘After I gave you a job, and you took the money, to trash it for what I suspect is very cynical reasons, shows a decided lack of class, no less honour.’
The director said that ‘there is supposed to be an esprit de corps between artistic colleagues.’
The French phrase used by Tarantino referred to ‘the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honour of the group,’ according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.
Tarantino told Arquette: ‘It would appear the objective was accomplished,’ finishing off the statement in writing, ‘Congratulations – Q.’
Speaking with The Sunday Times, Arquette called Pulp Fiction ‘iconic’ and ‘a great film on a lot of levels’ while expressing her ire with the use of the racial slur (about 20 times) in the motion picture.
‘Personally I am over the use of the N-word – I hate it,’ Arquette said.
Arquette said she didn’t feel Tarantino’s auteur status should enable him to liberally use the word in his scripts.
‘I cannot stand that [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass,’ she said. ‘It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.’
Arquette played the role of drug dealer Lance’s (Eric Stoltz) wife Jody in the 1994 movie
This is just one of many in a list of jibes that Tarantino has made over the years.
In December, he raised eyebrows yet again when he took aim at Paul Dano – claiming the actor’s ‘weak’ performance in There Will Be Blood hampered the quality of the film.
Many have rushed to Dano’s defence and lauded his portrayal of twins Paul and Eli Sunday – which earned him a BAFTA nomination at the time.
He also put two other men on his hit list.
They are Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard. ‘I don’t care for Owen Wilson, I don’t care for Matthew Lillard,’ he said during the podcast.
Wilson is the star of one of Tarantino’s favorite movies, 2011’s Woody Allen drama, Midnight In Paris.
Tarantino did sing the praises of another actor, however: Austin Butler, who appeared in his 2019 hit ensemble film Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood that starred Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Hollywood filmmaker brought up Dano when he talked about the period drama There Will Be Blood. Dano stars in the film as twins Paul and Eli Sunday.
Tarantino compared Dano’s performance to Daniel Day-Lewis’s and called the actor a ‘weak sauce.’
He said on the podcast: ‘There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being no. 1 or 2 if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it… and the flaw is Paul Dano.
‘Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister.
‘Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. [Dano] is just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.’
Even the star’s own mother isn’t safe from the director’s wrath, with Tarantino previously revealing that he refuses to help her financially because she once mocked his writing ambitions as a child.
The seven-time Oscar nominee sits on a reported net worth of $120 million (£86.49 million).
However, he made a pact at the age of 12 that he wouldn’t share his fortune with his mother Connie, 79, due to comments she made – and has continued to uphold the vow four decades on.
In December, he raised eyebrows yet again when he took aim at Paul Dano – claiming the actor’s ‘weak’ performance in There Will Be Blood hampered the quality of the film
But Dano was not the only person the legendary filmmaker put down. There were two other men on his hit list. They are Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard
Even the star’s own mother isn’t safe from the director’s wrath, with Tarantino previously revealing that he refuses to help her financially because she once mocked his writing ambitions as a child (pictured in a throwback)
Speaking on The Moment podcast, which is hosted by Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman, he recalled a moment when his mother sided with his teachers after he was scolded for writing screenplays in school.
After getting in trouble, he said that his mum ‘was bitching at me about that… and then in the middle of her little tirade, she said, “Oh, and by the way, this little ‘writing career,” with the finger quotes and everything. This little “writing career” that you’re doing? That s**t is over.’
Tarantino added: ‘When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I go, “OK, lady, when I become a successful writer, you will never see one penny from my success. There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing. Because you said that”.
When asked if he’d followed through with his vow, Quentin confessed: ‘Yeah. I helped her out with a jam with the IRS. But no house. No Cadillac, no house.’
He added: ‘There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children. Remember there are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what’s meaningful to them.’
Tarantino’s mother later told Daily Mail: ‘Regarding my son Quentin – I support him, I’m proud of him and love him and his growing new family.
‘It gave me great joy to dance at his wedding and receive his news upon the birth of my Grandson Leo.
‘Quentin and I both know that a sound bite on a podcast can spin and go viral without full context and can regurgitate inaccurately bolstered by slices of old interviews and assumptive past written material.’
Yet this is far from Tarantino’s most controversial remark.
In 2003, the director passionately defended Roman Polanski for raping 13-year-old girl in a rant lasting longer than eight minutes.
Polanski was charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, but fled to France before his sentencing.
Despite this, Tarantino insisted Polanski was not a rapist and claimed the girl ‘was down to party with Roman’ – despite co-host Robin Quivers reminding him that she had been drugged and plied with alcohol.
‘He didn’t rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape, that’s not quite the same thing,’ Tarantino said in an interview with Howard Stern.
‘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. He was guilty of having sex with a minor.’
In 2003, the director passionately defended Roman Polanski for raping 13-year-old girl in a rant lasting longer than eight minutes (Polanski pictured in 2019)
Olivia Munn also hit out at Tarantino as she demanded consequences for the director in the wake of the #MeToo movement
Shockingly, Tarantino continued: ‘She wanted to have it. Dated the guy… and by the way, we’re talking about America’s morals, we’re not talking about the morals in Europe and everything.’
When Stern questioned why a ‘grown man’ didn’t understand that sex with a minor was wrong, Tarantino again jumped to Polanski’s defence.
‘Look, she was down with it and she’s talked about it. I’m right, she’s talked about it. Now she’s an adult, she’s got a whole other story.’
The audio resurfaced in 2018 after footage was released of Uma Thurman being in a car crash on the set of Kill Bill, and the actress also alleged she was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein, who produced the movie. Weinstein denies the allegations.
As the footage went viral, actress Busy Phillips was quick to hit out at the director, sharing a clip and tweeting: ‘F**K THIS GUY.
She continued: ‘F**k anyone who works with him. I’m embarrassed that I ever auditioned for him. F**k him.’
Recalling a time when she auditioned for the director, Philipps wrote: ‘That I f**king showed up in SHORT SHORTS AND FLIP FLOPS as requested because I WANTED THE JOB. This business sucks and enables predators and F***ING ENOUGH.’
She added: ‘Btw this was 10 year ago. I’m SURE IM TOO F***ING OLD NOW.’
Her final tweet in the series read: ‘Ok. Sorry. I have to go put my two girls to bed and pray that they they get to grow up in a world where drugging and raping a child at 13 isn’t laughed off in a radio interview “because she wanted it”.’
Olivia Munn also hit out at Tarantino as she demanded consequences for the director in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
Munn went after Tarantino, whom she said ‘admitted to abusive behaviors on set and also admitted to knowing what Harvey Weinstein was doing’.
She was referring Tarantino’s interview with the New York Times at the height of #MeToo in 2017. When asked about the allegations against Weinstein, the director said: ‘I knew enough to do more than I did.’
Tarantino admitted to choking Thurman as well as Diane Kruger in his movies, but claimed they consented and it was all for the camera.
Munn said abusers should ‘go to the back of the line’ to make room for other ‘great directors or writers or producers or actors’.
‘The thing is that, not that they’re not incredibly talented in their own right, but when you are given the opportunity to have any kind of power and you abuse that power, I believe you immediately lose all positioning and that you don’t get to have that power anymore,’ she said.
Tarantino has also been accused of sending a death threat to talk show host David Letterman.
Letterman revealed in 2020: ‘There was one guest on the show and her girlfriend was someone [Tarantino] was dating. Famous star. So famous I can’t recall the name.
‘And I was saying, “No, you’re not dating Quentin Tarantino.” And she said, “Yes, yes I am.” And I said, “No please tell me this isn’t true.” Now I’m joking!’
But it would appear that Tarantino didn’t take it as much of a joke, as he called the talk show host two days later.
Letterman continued: ‘He starts screaming at me, “I’m gonna beat you to death, I’m gonna kill you, I’m coming to New York, and I’m gonna beat the crap out of you. How can you say that about me?” And I said, “Quentin, hang on a second.”‘
The comedian then got his producer to pick up the line, so nobody would think he was making it up.
He added: ‘On and on and on, like the guy is full-blown clinically goofy. So, I now say, “Okay, how do you want to do this, bat or fists?” And he said, “Bat! You get me a bat, and I’ll beat the hell out of you with it!”‘
Tarantino has also been accused of sending a death threat to talk show host David Letterman (pictured) after he made a joke about one of his ex-girlfriends
Tarantino is also in a feud with rapper Kanye West, who has claimed that the director stole the idea for Django Unchained from him
It got to the point where Letterman coordinated with his assistant to get Tarantino on a red eye flight that night, which ultimately never happened.
Tarantino is also in a feud with rapper Kanye West, who has claimed that the director stole the idea for Django Unchained from him.
During an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, West said: ‘There are no limits for free speech. It’s all context, right?
‘Tarantino can write a movie about slavery where actually him and Jamie [Foxx] they got the idea from me because the idea for Django I pitched to Jamie Foxx and Quentin Tarantino as the video for Gold Digger and then Tarantino turned it into a film.
‘In that film he creates a context where Leonardo DiCaprio is allowed to use n***** multiple times within that context,’ the Blame Game rapper explained.
‘So Hollywood’s job is to frame things. And they allow what content is accepted and what’s not.’
In the end, the Gold Digger music video had nothing to do with slavery, but the song went on to set a record for the most digital downloads in a week, selling over 80,000 in 2005.
As for Django Unchained, it would become Tarantino’s most financially successful film, grossing $425.4 million at the worldwide box office on a $100 million budget.
Tarantino rejected the rapper’s comments, insisting on Jimmy Kimmel Live: ‘That didn’t happen.’
He explained: ‘I’d had the idea for Django for a while before I ever met Kanye.
‘He wanted to do a giant movie version of The College Dropout [his debut studio album] the way he did the album.
‘He wanted to get big directors to do different tracks from the album and then release it as this giant movie.
‘We used it as an excuse to meet each other and and so we met each other we had a really good time. And he did have an idea for a video.
‘I do think it was for the Gold Digger video, that he would be a slave. And the whole thing was the slave narrative where he’s a slave and he’s singing Gold Digger. And it was very funny. It was a really, really funny idea.’
As host Kimmel questioned: ‘A funny slave video?’ Tarantino continued: ‘It was meant to be ironic. And it’s like a huge musical. I mean, like no expenses spared with him in this slave rag outfit, doing everything. And then that was also part of the part of the pushback on it.’
Tarantino has also been blasted by Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon after his questionable caricature of the fallen icon in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.
In an open letter published by The Hollywood Reporter, Lee made her feelings quite clear, writing that she is ‘really f**king tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was.
‘Why does Quentin Tarantino speak like he knew Bruce Lee and hated him? It seems weird given he never met Bruce Lee, right?’ Shannon began the column.
She went on to note Tarantino’s many stylistic touches over the years that are owed to the kung-fu genre and action film tropes in general that were established by her legendary father.
‘As you already know, the portrayal of Bruce Lee in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood by Mr. Tarantino, in my opinion, was inaccurate and unnecessary to say the least,’ she later wrote.
Lee adeed: ‘I’m really f**king tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was.’
Amid criticism over Tarantino’s movie, he responded: ‘Where I’m coming from is… I can understand his daughter having a problem with it.
‘It’s her f***ing father, all right, I get that. But anybody else, go suck a d**k’.
