Tarantino Says Uma Thurman Car Crash Is One Of His Biggest Regrets

Director Quentin Tarantino says Uma Thurman's car crash on the set of 'Kill Bill' is the biggest regret of his life.

He has spoken to Deadline in response to an interview given by the actress to journalist Maureen Dowd.

Tarantino says he took "the heat" for the stunt because the people really at fault "lawyered up".

"I knew that the piece was happening," he said. "Uma and I had talked about it, for a long period of time, deciding how she was going to do it."

Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in 2017 | Image: Briquet-Hahn-Marechal/ABACA/PA Images

The director found the footage himself, going "through storage facilities and pulling out boxes", and was "happy" to give to her 15 years later.

"The thing is, Uma had people she wanted to indict, for that cover-up," Tarantino explained.

"Part of my job on the piece was to do an interview with Maureen Dowd, and back up Uma's claims. And we never hooked up. Me and Dowd never hooked up."

He claims the people Thurman really wanted to put on a spotlight "lawyered up", which made it impossible for Dowd to mention them in the piece.

"I ended up taking the hit and taking the heat," he said.

Thurman has herself posted the video of the car crash on social media, in a post clarifying she does not believe Tarantino had withheld it maliciously and they were now on good terms.

 

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 Feb 5, 2018 at 10:15am PST

The video release comes just days after Thurman claimed she was sexually attacked by Harvey Weinstein at a London Hotel.

Weinstein has acknowledged making "an awkward pass" 25 years ago at Thurman after "misreading her signals" but a spokesman said he "immediately apologised".

His spokesman said her claims of physical assault are "untrue" and Weinstein is "saddened and puzzled" why his "colleague and friend" has made these allegations now.

He is considering legal action, his lawyer said.