Tarantino Responds To Backlash From His Police Brutality Remarks: 'I'm Not A Cop Hater'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Director Quentin Tarantino spoke out Tuesday for the first time about his stinging remarks against law enforcement. His comments triggered a bitter backlash from police groups in five big cities, including in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Tarantino told the Los Angeles Times: "All cops are not murderers. I never said that. I never even implied it." He stood by his words and said his critics are misrepresenting his comments and slandering him.
He sparked a firestorm of criticism Oct. 24 when he spoke at an anti-police-brutality rally in Brooklyn, N.Y. He said: "I'm a human being with a conscience. And 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."
"When I see murders, I do not stand by. I have to call the murdered the murdered, and I have to call the murderers the murderers," the Academy Award-winning director said last week.
His sharp words triggered an angry response from some police organizations and their supporters. They called for a boycott of the director's movie "The Hateful Eight," which is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day.
Tarantino accused his critics of ducking the real issue, which he said is police brutality, especially against people of color. And he offered no apology.
"I'm not being intimidated. Frankly, it feels lousy to have a bunch of police mouthpieces call me a cop hater," Tarantino said. "I'm not a cop hater. This is a misrepresentation. That is slanderous. That is not how I feel. I'm not taking back what I said. What I said was the truth," he told the Times.
His response doesn't appear to be cooling things down. L.A. Police Protective League Vice President Jerretta Sandoz said Tarantino's comments do nothing to heal the wounds.
"We didn't hear an apology. We heard him stick by his words. So, no, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed at all. And what we expect is for this nation to rise up, law-abiding citizens to rise up and denounce any of his films, especially when he's perpetuating this anti-police rhetoric," Sandoz said.
"His movies are extremely violent, but he doesn't understand violence. Unfortunately, he mistakes lawful use of force for murder. And it's not," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said.
Tarantino's comments have been applauded by supporters like actor Jamie Foxx, who weighed in at the Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills on Sunday.
"Quentin Tarantino, you're boss. You're absolutely amazing. Keep speaking the truth and keep telling the truth," Foxx said. "And don't worry about none of the haters. I'm going let you know right now."
But Sandoz said police unions and organizations across the country and their supporters are determined to shut down Tarantino's movies.
"We have New York. We have Philadelphia. We have Chicago. We have New Nersey," Sandoz said. "And that's just the beginning. There are going to be police agencies throughout this country that will join together to boycott his films."
This week, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs joined the call to boycott Tarantino's movies. The president of the National Fraternal Order of Police lent his support to the boycott as well.
