March 10, 2026, 9:34 p.m. ET
Director Quentin Tarantino has harsh words for actress Rosanna Arquette after she criticized his decision to include a racial slur in “Pulp Fiction.”
Arquette, who played the wife of drug dealer Lance (Eric Stoltz), in Tarantino’s Oscar-winning cult classic, called the 1994 film great and iconic on “a lot of levels” but condemned the use of a racial slur in a Sunday Times interview published on March 7.
“But personally, I am over the use of the [slur] – I hate it. I cannot stand that [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass,” she said. “It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.”
The “Kill Bill” director slammed Arquette’s remarks in a statement shared with USA TODAY on Tuesday, March 10, accusing her of only critiquing him for the press coverage.
“I hope the publicity you’re getting from 132 different media outlets writing your name and printing your picture was worth disrespecting me and a film I remember quite clearly you were thrilled to be a part of?” his statement read.
USA TODAY has reached out to Arquette’s representatives for comment.
Quentin Tarantino bashes Rosanna Arquette after she calls the director out
Tarantino responded to Arquette’s claims that she harbors resentment over the money she didn’t receive after the film’s release. “Do you feel this way now? Very possibly,” he continued. “But after I gave you a job, and you took the money, to trash it for what I suspect is very cynical reasons, shows a decided lack of class, no less honor.”
He also criticized her for not showing “esprit de corps,” which he believes should exist among artistic colleagues. “But it would appear the objective was accomplished. Congratulations Q,” the director concluded.
Rosanna Arquette speaks out about Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Weinstein
Along with her disapproval of the racial slur in “Pulp Fiction,” Arquette also said she was the only person who didn’t get a backend share of the movie’s takings, which she blamed on Harvey Weinstein, who was a producer on the movie. “Everybody made money except me,” she told the Sunday Times.
Arquette was among the actresses interviewed for a 2017 expose of Weinstein published in The New Yorker before the Hollywood titan was sentenced to prison time for a series of sexual assaults. Weinstein has denied all wrongdoing.
The actress recounted an encounter in the early ’90s when she met with Weinstein about the film’s script, and he greeted her in a bathrobe before attempting to put her hands on his genitalia.
“I was fortunate because I was not raped,” she told the outlet. “But, boy, was it going there and I paid a price for saying no, and later I paid a price for telling the truth.”
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY