Director Quentin Tarantino has doubled down on his criticism of American cops — and called out Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the process.
Tarantino has opened up about the months-long controversy surrounding his involvement in an October New York City protest against police violence, which resulted in a boycott of his new film “The Hateful Eight” from cop unions nationwide.
Now, just days away from the theatrical release of the movie, Tarantino discussed backlash to his controversial comments and the damage it might do to his film’s awards campaign and box office success.
“Did I feel bad that they’re not going to kiss me for this? Yeah, a little bit,” Tarantino told Entertainment Weekly of law enforcement in an interview Monday. “But not as bad as I feel sitting on the couch watching literally people being gunned down and then the cops just facing some Mickey Mouse cop tribunal and just being put on desk duty.”
Tarantino also called instances like the shooting death of Chicago 17-year-old Laquan McDonald a larger issue of racism, not just the popular “few bad apples” argument, pinning such crimes to individual officers.
“I completely and utterly reject the ‘bad apples’ argument,” Tarantino said. “Chicago just got caught with their pants down in a way that can’t be denied… and the chief of police, is he a bad apple? I think he is. Is [Chicago Mayor] Rahm Emanuel a bad apple? I think he is. They’re all bad apples. That just shows that that’s a bullshit argument. It’s about institutional racism. It’s about institutional cover-ups that are about protecting the force as opposed to the citizens.”
Rahm Emanuel, brother of WME co-CEO Ari Emanuel, is currently under fire for the McDonald case and other allegations of police corruption and violence in Chicago. At least two demonstrations and wide protests have erupted in recent weeks, with repeated calls for the mayor’s resignation.
National and major local police unions from cities like New York and Los Angeles maintain their boycotts stand toward Tarantino. But the groups’ exact plans remain unclear ahead of the Christmas Day opening of “The Hateful Eight,” a Western distributed by The Weinstein Company.