Quentin Tarantino reveals regrets about Harvey Weinstein’s “pathetic” behaviour
Legendary director Quentin Tarantino has revealed that he has regrets regarding his relationship with Harvey Weinstein and wishes he had taken the time to have a “man-to-man talk” with him about his “pathetic” behaviour.
Tarantino had worked alongside the convicted sex offender across nine of his feature films but cut ties with him in October 2017 following the initial allegations of rape, sexual assault and harassment. At the time, Tarantino admitted he “knew enough to do more than I did,” adding: “I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard”.
The highly acclaimed filmmaker has since elaborated on his working relationship with Weinstein in an appearance on the CNN talk show Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace. Tarantino revealed that while he was aware of Weinstein’s questionable behaviour surrounding women, he didn’t know the full extent of his unforgivable activity.
“I’d never heard the stories that later came out at all,” Tarantino said. “I heard the same stories that everybody had heard. What I wish I had done was talk to Harvey about it and say, ‘Harvey, you can’t do this.’ To tell you the truth, I chalked it up to a Mad Men-era version of the boss chasing the secretary around the desk. I’m not saying that’s ok. That’s how I heard it… in that category. There was never any talk of rape or anything like that.
“The reason I didn’t [say something to Weinstein] was because that’s a real hard conversation to have. I felt it was pathetic. I felt what he was doing was pathetic, and I didn’t want to deal with his pathetic-ness.”
“I didn’t think it was, ‘Ok, you do this for me, or you’re not going to get this movie.’ I never heard any actresses say anything like that. It was just, you know, ‘Don’t get in the back of a limo with him.’ It was easy to compartmentalise that to some degree. Anyway, I feel bad about… what I feel bad about is I feel bad that I did not have a man-to-man talk with him about it.”
Tarantino previously discussed his acquaintance with Weinstein on Joe Rogan’s podcast in the summer of 2021. “I wish I had sat [Harvey] down and gone, ‘Harvey, you can’t do this; you’re gonna fuck up everything.’ Maybe his brother Bob [did], but I don’t think anybody talked to him about it.
“And the thing about it is everybody who was in his orbit knew about it. Probably they didn’t know anything about rapes, but they had heard things.”
The disgraced film producer is currently on trial in Los Angeles for 11 charges of sexual assault involving five women in alleged incidents taking place between 2004 and 2013. In March 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape in his initial New York trials.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.