Quentin Tarantino has responded to Uma Thurman's allegation that he put her life in danger with a dangerous car stunt in Kill Bill, calling the incident "the biggest regret of my life".
But just as he was making amends for that incident – and trying to explain it – the director was being excoriated on social media on Tuesday for remarks he made in a 2003 interview with Howard Stern that resurfaced online, seemingly defending Roman Polanski for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, saying the victim “wanted to have it” and was “down to party” with Polanski.
The incident involving Ms Thurman became public on Saturday, in a New York Times column in which the actress, while also making sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, recounted Tarantino’s persuading her to drive a car on the Mexico set that she had been warned might be faulty.
Ms Thurman told columnist Maureen Dowd that she had expressed fear beforehand, and asked that a stunt driver do it instead. An irritated Tarantino convinced her to do it, she said, and she crashed into a tree, suffering what she said was permanent neck damage, a concussion and damage to her knees. Video that Ms Thurman provided the Times – which was provided to her by Mr Tarantino himself – shows her struggling to control the car before crashing, and then being lifted out of the vehicle.
In an interview with Deadline published on Monday, Mr Tarantino disputed some of the details in the Times account but said he had indeed persuaded the actress to drive the car, although not as angrily as described. He said he had driven the road himself and it had seemed totally straight, but that a decision was made for Ms Thurman to drive it in the other direction, and somehow there was a turn that he didn't expect.
“I didn’t force her into the car,” he told Deadline. “She got into it because she trusted me. And she believed me.” He said seeing the crash was “just horrible ... It was heartbreaking." He called it “the biggest regret of my life.”
Ms Thurman spoke out again on Monday on Instagram, reposting the crash video and acknowledging that Mr 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 ... I am proud of him for doing the right thing and for his courage.” She said she held the film’s producers and “the notorious Harvey Weinstein” responsible for covering up and refusing to give her the video for years.
“They lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress,” the actress wrote.
It wasn’t just the car incident that called Mr Tarantino’s behaviour into question; Ms Thurman also said the director himself both spit on her and choked her during scenes where it was called for in the script. Mr Tarantino explained to Deadline that he spit on the actress himself because he felt he could do accomplish it more efficiently than actor Michael Madsen, and that it was Ms Thurman’s idea that he choke her. “I can act all strangle-ey, but if you want my face to get red and the tears to come to my eye, then you kind of need to choke me,” Mr Tarantino explained.
The director was also getting severely criticised on Twitter on Tuesday as audio surfaced of his remarks concerning Polanski, 84, who has been a fugitive since fleeing to France in 1978 while awaiting sentencing for unlawful sex with a minor in 1975.
“She wanted to have it and dated the guy,” Mr Tarantino says in the audio interview. When Howard Stern and his co-host, Robin Quivers, protest, the director replies: “Look, she was down with this.”
Some were noting on Tuesday that Polanski will figure as a significant character in Mr Tarantino’s upcoming film about the Manson murders, slated to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the murders next year. Sharon Tate, who was killed, was married to Polanski.
Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with the girl, Samantha Geimer, when she was 13. She has said he drugged and raped her.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.0%20twin-turbo%20inline%20six-cylinder%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight-speed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E503hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E600Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
EVIL%20DEAD%20RISE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELee%20Cronin%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlyssa%20Sutherland%2C%20Morgan%20Davies%2C%20Lily%20Sullivan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
