In case you hadn’t heard, Quentin Tarantino is a rampant cop-hater.
The Patrolman’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch dubbed the Reservoir Dogs director so and called for a boycott of his upcoming feature, The Hateful Eight, and police unions across the country followed suit. I mean, you cut off a cop’s ear and almost set him on fire one time….
Oh, wait, actually it’s because Tarantino attended an anti-police brutality march in New York City last month and referred to the murders of unarmed citizens as murders. The mudslinging between police unions and the director has snowballed since then, and Tarantino appeared on MSNBC’s All In last night to address the controversy.
Tarantino clarifies that when he used the word “murder” he was referring to situations which resulted in the deaths of unarmed citizens. When asked about the backlash by police unions, he says he was surprised.
“I was under the impression that I was an American and that I had First Amendment rights and there was no problem with me going to an anti-police brutality protest and speaking my mind,” he said. “And, just because I was at an anti-police brutality protest doesn’t mean I’m anti-police.”
The Weinstein Co., which is releasing The Hateful Eight Dec. 25 and, as Tarantino points out, released Fruitvale Station, told The Hollywood Reporter that they stand behind Tarantino. “The Weinstein Co. has a long-standing relationship and friendship with Quentin and has a tremendous amount of respect for him as a filmmaker,” a Weinstein Co. representative said in a statement.
Watch the full interview above.