Quentin Tarantino has hit back at Rosanna Arquette‘s criticism of his excessive use of the N-word in his films, claiming it showed a “decided lack of class”.
Arquette, who played drug dealer Lance’s (Eric Stoltz) girlfriend Jody in Pulp Fiction, looked back recently on her role 1994 cult classic and described it as “iconic”.
“A great film on a lot of levels,” the actor, 66, told The Times of London on Saturday. “But personally I am over the use of the N-word – I hate it. I cannot stand that [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass. It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.”
The racial slur is used 20 times in Pulp Fiction, which won the Oscar for best original screenplay.
In a statement addressed to Arquette, Tarantino responded on Monday. “Dear Rosanna, 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?
“Do you feel this way now? Very possibly,” the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director told The Wrap.
“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 honour.
“There is supposed to be an esprit de corps between artistic colleagues. But it would appear the objective was accomplished.”
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Arquette for comment.
Quentin Tarantino’s use of the N-word in his films has drawn criticism for years, especially after his 2012 western Django Unchained, which contains more than 110 uses of the slur by both Black and white characters.
In 2022, he addressed the backlash by telling critics to go “see something else”. He told CNN: “If you have a problem with my movies, then they aren’t the movies to go see. Apparently, I’m not making them for you.”
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The Butler and The Paperboy director Lee Daniels responded to it at the time, saying: “Quentin, that’s not the right answer…10 years ago, or 15 years ago, I would have checked it off as artistic.”
Spike Lee has been an outspoken critic of Tarantino’s decisions, telling Vibe magazine about Django in 2012 that the language was “disrespectful to my ancestors.”
However, Samuel L Jackson, who starred in Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, defended Tarantino’s use of the N-word during his appearance in QT8: The First Eight, the 2019 documentary about Tarantino’s films.
“You take 12 Years a Slave, which is supposedly made by an auteur. Steve McQueen is very different than Quentin,” Jackson said. “When you have a song that says [the N-word] in it 300 times, nobody says s***. So it’s ok for Steve McQueen to use [the N-word] because he’s artistically attacking the system and the way people think and feel, but Quentin is just doing it to just strike the blackboard with his nails?”
