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Tarantino Responds To Accusations That He Was Responsible For "Kill Bill" Crash

IndieWire / Pop Culture

When Uma Thurman went public with her experience of abuse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein, fans were there for her to offer support and praise for sharing her story.

However, legions were shocked when they heard Thurman claim that director and former friend to the actress, Quentin Tarantino, had placed her into a dangerous situation that ultimately left her permanently injured.

Thurman went into detail about her personal struggle to continue in the industry after the disgraced Weinstein attempted to force himself on her in his hotel room, and having to keep working alongside him.

She also described how Tarantino pressured her to drive an older car down a sandy road saying they needed her to get the shot, despite her objections. The car spun out and she hit a tree, leaving her with a concussion, damaged knees, and a neck injury that persists to this day.

Thurman said in her New York Times interview that while the sexual assault was terrible, it isn't the same as fearing for her life.

"Harvey assaulted me but that didn’t kill me,” she said. “What really got me about the crash was that it was a cheap shot. I had been through so many rings of fire by that point."

Now, Tarantino has broken his silence on her accusations in an emotional appeal.

When they were shooting the film Kill Bill, Thurman was asked to drive down a road instead of a stunt driver.

"But I was scared. He said: ‘I promise you the car is fine. It’s a straight piece of road,'" she described in the interview. "‘Hit 40 miles per hour or your hair won’t blow the right way and I’ll make you do it again.’ But that was a deathbox that I was in."

After the crash, the studio attempted to hide the footage in case of a lawsuit. After 15 years, it was finally given to her by none other than Tarantino himself.

"She wanted clarity on what happened in that car crash, after all these years," he said to Deadline in an interview.

Tarantino said he was deeply saddened by the incident and how it affected the relationship between the two.

"I told her it would be safe. And it wasn't. I was wrong," he said. "She got into it because she trusted me. And she believed me."

i post this clip to memorialize it’s full exposure in the nyt by Maureen Dowd. the circumstances of this event were negligent to the point of criminality. i do not believe though with malicious intent. Quentin Tarantino, was deeply regretful and remains remorseful about this sorry event, and gave me the footage years later so i could expose it and let it see the light of day, regardless of it most likely being an event for which justice will never be possible. he also did so with full knowledge it could cause him personal harm, and i am proud of him for doing the right thing and for his courage. THE COVER UP after the fact is UNFORGIVABLE. for this i hold Lawrence Bender, E. Bennett Walsh, and the notorious Harvey Weinstein solely responsible. they lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress. the cover up did have malicious intent, and shame on these three for all eternity. CAA never sent anyone to Mexico. i hope they look after other clients more respectfully if they in fact want to do the job for which they take money with any decency.

A post shared by Uma Thurman (@ithurman) on

Thurman said that she was proud of Tarantino for doing the right thing and helping her, saying that she holds Weinstein and her agents accountable for the cover up of the crash and who was to blame.

Tarantino is still remorseful about what happened to this day. "Beyond one of the biggest regrets of my career, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life," he said.

Share if you think Tarantino did the right thing by coming forward.