A 2003 Howard Stern segment has resurfaced in which Quentin Tarantino defends Roman Polanski and his illegal sex with a 13 year old girl.
Asked by Stern why he praised the director’s Oscar win and didn’t consider Polanski a rapist, Tarantino replied: “He didn’t rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape.... He had sex with a minor. That’s not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you’re talking about violent, throwing them down; it’s like one of the most violent crimes in the world. You can’t throw the word rape around. It’s like throwing the word ‘racist’ around. It doesn’t apply to everything people use it for.”
Tarantino went on to say “she wanted to have it and dated the guy”, persisting in spite of Stern and co-host Robin Quivers pointing out that the girl was 13 and that she was drugged. Tarantino continued: “Look, she was down with this”, calling her a “party girl”, even after Stern read a transcript from the victim.
The debate between the three gets quite heated, as you can see from the below:
The news comes in the wake of Tarantino responding to Uma Thurman's statement about a car crash stunt she was forced to do on the set of Kill Bill.
It also comes after news that Polanski will reportedly be a main character in his next film based around the Charles Manson murders.
