Quentin Tarantino has criticised the campaign by police to boycott his films after he spoke out at a rally against police brutality.
The director appeared on MSNBC to discuss the fallout from his speech during the protest that took place in New York last month and how he is “surprised” at the reaction.
“I was under the impression 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,” Tarantino told Chris Hayes during the news and opinion show All In. “Just because I was at an anti-police brutality protest doesn’t mean I’m anti-police.”
His appearance and emotive speech has led to many police unions threatening a boycott of his upcoming film The Hateful Eight. “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,” he said to the crowd.
He has now stated that he believes there is “white supremacy” tainting America.
“There’s a lot of statistics going around about how many unarmed people have been killed by the police, but we want them to stop being numbers. We want them to stop being statistics and start being people who were once living and breathing and are now dead,” he said.
Tarantino was also asked about the allegation from Republican congressman Ted Poe of Texas that he was inciting violence against law enforcement.
“That’s their way: they’re being inflammatory; they’re slandering me,” he said. “I’m not a cop hater. Anybody who acknowledges that there’s a problem in law enforcement in this country right now is considered by law enforcement to be part of the problem – whether that be me, whether that be Bill de Blasio or whether that be President Barack Obama.”
