Quentin Tarantino has finally broken his silence to respond to the growing pleas to boycott his films.
"The Hateful Eight" director participated and spoke at an anti-police brutality rally in New York City on October 24. Talking to the rally crowd, Quentin Tarantino said, as per the Hollywood Reporter:
"When I see murders, I do not stand by. [...] I have to call a murder a murder, and I have to call the murderers the murderers."
Because of what Tarantino had said, Patrick Lynch, the head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association - a New York police union, called for his fellow cops and New Yorkers to boycott his films.
According to Entertainment Weekly:
"'I'm not being intimidated,' Tarantino told the Los Angeles Times. 'Frankly, it feels lousy to have a bunch of police mouthpieces call me a cop hater. I'm not a cop hater. That is a misrepresentation. That is slanderous. That is not how I feel. But you know, that's their choice to do that to me. What can I do? I'm not taking back what I said. What I said was the truth.'"
The boycott could threaten the outcome of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming movie, "The Hateful Eight." The Los Angeles Times reports:
"The threatened boycott could dim prospects for Tarantino's new film, which is set for a Christmas release and has been expected to be a critical and commercial success for Tarantino and his longtime distributor, the Weinstein Co. Several movies beset by controversy in recent years have seen either their box office or award recognition dented."
Given the controversy, The Weinstein Company released its own statement:
"The Weinstein Company has a longstanding relationship and friendship with Quentin and has a tremendous amount of respect from him as a filmmaker. We don't speak for Quentin, he can and should be allowed to speak for himself."
Guess we won't know how the boycott affects "The Hateful Eight" until the movie sees its release on December 25.
