'The Hateful Eight' release date, cast news & update: director Quentin Tarantino refuses to back down from police boycott [details here]
Director Quentin Tarantino insists he is not a "cop hater" as his words were allegedly misrepresented when he made a statement during the "Rise Up October" rally in New York. Cop groups from around the country have been calling for the boycott of his movie, "The Hateful Eight."
Tarantino stated that he will no back down nor apologize for the statements that he made during the police brutality protest but insists that he does not hate all cops.
This was the original statement by Tarantino during the Oct. 24 rally, as reported by Variety:
"I'm a human being with a conscience. If you believe there's murder going on then you need to rise up and stand up against it. I'm here to say I'm on the side of the murdered," Tarantino said.
"That's why we are out here. If it was being dealt with, then these murdering cops would be in jail or at least be facing charges," he added.
According to The Guardian, his statement spurred for a boycott of his films from various American police groups around the country.
In an interview to Los Angeles Times, Tarantino responded to the issue by telling the outlet that he is not "anti-cop."
"All cops are not murderers. I never said that. I never even implied that," the director stated. "I do believe that the cops who killed Eric Garner are murderers. I do believe that when Walter Scott was shot in the back in the park eight times by a cop, he was murdered. I do believe Tamir Rice was murdered."
He adds that by "singling him out," the attention on the issues of police brutality would be shifted to him by implying that he is a "cop hater."
"What can I do? I'm not taking back what I said. What I was said was the truth," Tarantino said when asked if he feels intimidated. "I'm used to people misrepresenting me. I'm used to being misunderstood. What I'd like to think is that their attack against me is so vicious that they're revealing themselves. They're hiding in plain sight."
With his upcoming film, "The Hateful Eight" coming, Variety states that the backlash from his Oct. 24 statements may not affect its viewership. The outlet states that films by people with scandalous issues still get a lot of praise and successes as people have evolved to be able to separate professional work from personal issues.
"The Hateful Eight" will star Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen and Channing Tatum in post-Civil War setting in Wyoming about bounty hunters on their way to the town of Red Rock. It will be coming to Theaters on Dec. 25, the Independent reports.