Samantha Geimer: Quentin Tarantino called me to apologize & ‘he is sincere’
February 12, 2018God, there’s so much backstory here. Okay, let’s begin: Uma Thurman finally told her story two weekends ago. The Harvey Weinstein part of the story was just what we feared it would be, that Weinstein assaulted her and mistreated her and threatened her. Uma also spoke at length about how she lost trust in Quentin Tarantino after a stunt-gone-wrong on Kill Bill. It sounded as if she felt abused by Tarantino as well (Uma later clarified that she did not believe QT had malicious intent). People began examining Tarantino’s past actions with actresses, like how he strangled Diane Kruger, and bit Fergie and more. Tarantino came out and gave a lengthy interview about what really happened with Uma and more.
Within the same news cycle, Jezebel got their hands on the 2003 audio clip from QT’s interview on Howard Stern, where Tarantino claimed that Roman Polanski’s then-13-year-old victim “wanted it” and it wasn’t really rape. Samantha Geimer is Polanski’s victim and she commented on the audio before Tarantino had a chance to apologize – which he did – saying that he was wrong about everything. As it turns out, Tarantino didn’t just offer a public apology for his Polanski comments, he also called Geimer personally and spoke to her at length to apologize. Geimer in turn spoke to Indie Wire at length about Tarantino, public apologies and the Cancellation Culture. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
Her original comments on Tarantino were misconstrued: “I did not call him out or slam him. When asked, I said he was wrong, as in incorrect, about what happened. I thought he knew better now, 15 years later, and did not expect that he would repeat that, because he would only make himself look bad. Okay, I said, “like an ass.” But the sentiment was that he certainly knows better. The wording that he assumed I wanted to be “raped,” I don’t know where that came from, but he never said that. What I was really trying to say to those who called is, I don’t care. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m not upset, this and worse has been happening to me for years. And mostly, I am aware that my rape is being used to attack him and I really don’t like that.
Whether she expected Tarantino to call her: “No. I mean, not personally. I thought that was nice. What if I was really mad? He called to face it personally. I think he realizes that the things he said to be shocking involve an actual person — me — and he wasn’t thinking about that at the time. He felt bad about it. While I had him on the phone, I made him talk to me about some of his movies. Ha, ha. Didn’t want to waste that opportunity. He is sincere in his apology and I told him I felt my rape was being used to attack him by people who don’t care about what happened to me, and I do take offense to that.
On the value of apologizing: “I think apologies go a long way to help the person who was wronged and the person that is apologizing. I often say I don’t need them, but in truth, they always have a positive impact. He is under a lot more scrutiny than I am. If not for Roman and Quentin’s fame, nobody would be talking to me about any of this, so their words, actions and even apologies will always be glorified and criticized. Fame magnifies everything….”
On public figures’ public apologies: “Well, I think if you’re going to apologize, you apologize to the person individually who you upset. I don’t think you have to apologize to the whole world, or everyone who you think might hire you. An apology is only for the person who you feel you’ve hurt and wants an apology. I’m not sure if that has a greater effect on a wider group of people but Quentin and Roman’s apologies were written straight to me.”
Takedown culture: “I think being spiteful and taking people down you don’t like them isn’t helping anybody. We all see what’s happening. If you’re not doing something positive, if you’re not making a difference, stop pretending you are. Just be like, “I hate that guy.” I’m in a weird spot. I’ve been in this weird spot my whole life. People are like, “We hate Roman because of what he did to you.” I’m fine, I don’t want anybody to hate anybody, and you actually don’t give a sh-t about me. What bothers me is that people are attacking somebody else at your expense. Let’s throw your rape out there to attack Quentin Tarantino. That hypocrisy bothers me because I’m in that spot where that happens to me. This is just the way it goes, in my life anyway, and we all say stupid things.
She also talks at length about how she’s actually a big fan of Tarantino’s work and how she asked him about future projects and told him that the Sharon Tate movie sounds like a terrible idea (he told her it wasn’t really about Tate or the murders). She doesn’t really talk about the fact that multiple women have come forward in recent years to say that Polanski abused them or assaulted them when they were children either, but she does say that Polanski’s personal apology made a difference to her, that it made her feel better even if it didn’t really change anything. I think it’s important to point out that while we should respect Geimer’s views and listen to what she has to say, we also shouldn’t treat her like she’s the spokesperson for all of the victims out there, or even just all of Polanski’s victims. I’m glad that Geimer has made her peace with everything and that she doesn’t have any hatred in her heart. But I also think that other victims will feel differently, and that’s okay too. I also think it’s perfectly fine to hate Polanski for what he did to Geimer… and what he did to other girls and women too.
Photos courtesy of Getty.