Quentin Tarantino responds to police protests on Bill Maher, says the 'blue wall' has to come down
Following those comments police unions across the country said they would boycott his upcoming film "The Hateful Eight" (opening in theaters on Christmas Day).
Maher pointed out that though reports have since declared that Tarantino was calling all police murderers that that wasn't what he said. He then gave the Oscar-winner the floor to explain himself.
"[The police unions] are calling me a cop hater, which is slander because I didn't say that, and they are implying that I meant that all cops are murderers, and I wasn't, but the sad thing is we do have to talk to the cops about this," said Tarantino, referring to police brutality. "We have to get to the problem and get this on the table."
Maher later showed footage of Pennsylvania officer Lisa Mearkle shooting and shocking with a Taser to death David Kassick in February 2015, who she stopped for an expired auto inspection sticker. Officer Mearkle was found not guilty on Thursday of all charges regarding the death of Kassick.
Tarantino says this isn't an issue of good cops versus bad cops but that the "blue wall" of protection that the police have with one another needs to come down.
"They protect their own as opposed to putting themselves in the betterment of citizenry."
The largest police union in the country says it has a "surprise" in store for Tarantino.
Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, told The Hollywood Reporter:
"Tarantino has made a good living out of violence and surprise," he said. "Our offices make a living trying to stop violence, but surprise is not out of the question."