Quentin Tarantino Defends Roman Polanski In Unearthed Interview

It’s not even Wednesday, but Quentin Tarantino is likely already having the worst week of his life. The director’s choices during the making of “Kill Bill” which nearly led star Uma Thurman to suffer severe injuries, and his complacency despite knowing what he did about Harvey Weinstein‘s behaviour, have come until a critical eye. Tarantino has explained and defended his actions, however, he might have a harder time with this recent revelation.

Jezebel has unearthed Tarantino’s apperance on “The Howard Stern Show” in 2003, in which he defends director Roman Polanski, who pleaded guilty in 1977 to sexually assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Gailey. It’s stomach-turning stuff with Tarantino claiming that the adolescent “wanted to have it.”

“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,” the director said.

When Robin Quivers points out that Gailey has stated she did not give her consent for the encounter with Polanski, Tarantino doubles down:

Tarantino: No, that was not the case AT ALL. She wanted to have it and dated the guy and—

Quivers: She was 13!

Tarantino: And by the way, we’re talking about America’s morals, not talking about the morals in Europe and everything.

Stern: 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.

Quivers: …giving her booze and pills…

Tarantino: Look, she was down with this.

Adding a further twist to all of this, Tarantino’s upcoming film will feature Polanski as a character. The project, which will touch upon the Manson murders, will also feature Polanski’s wife at the time, Sharon Tate, who was brutally killed by Manson’s followers.

Listen to the conversation with Tarantino below.