Thurman says car accident on Kill Bill set was ‘negligent’
Actress said Weinstein and other producers ‘destroyed evidence’ and that the ‘cover up was unforgivable’
UMA THURMAN has accused Harvey Weinstein and other producers of negligence “to the point of criminality” after she was involved in a car crash on the set of Kill Bill.
Thurman, 47, was shooting for the 2003 action thriller, directed by Quentin Tarantino and produced by Weinstein, when the crash occurred.
The actress said she feared the car she was asked to drive was unsafe, but Tarantino insisted she film the scene rather than using a stunt double.
The director yesterday said it was “one of the biggest regrets of my life”.
He told the Deadline Hollywood website: “I came in there all happy, telling her she could totally do it, it was a straight line, you will have no problem.
“Uma’s response was ‘OK’. Because she believed me. Because she trusted me… I told her it would be safe. And it wasn’t. I was wrong.”
He added: “It was heartbreaking. Beyond one of the biggest regrets of my career, it was one of the biggest regrets of my life.”
During the shoot, the actress lost control of the car leaving her with a concussion and permanent damage to her knees and neck.
On Monday night, Thurman released footage of the crash, which she said Tarantino had given to her after her 15-year attempt to obtain it. She lashed out at the film’s producers, saying the “cover up” after the crash was “unforgivable”.
“For this I hold Lawrence Bender, E Bennett Walsh, and the notorious Harvey Weinstein solely responsible,” she wrote on Instagram.
“They lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress.”
The crash first came to light in an interview Thurman did with The New York Times, in which she spoke of her alleged abuse at the hands of Weinstein.
Weinstein has been accused of sexual assault by a number of actresses in Hollywood but has denied all accusations of non-consensual behaviour.
Thurman also lashed out at CAA, her former agency, for their handling of the incident. The agency said they would not be responding.
In the interview, Thurman claimed Miramax, Weinstein’s company, refused to show her the crash footage unless she signed a statement releasing them of “any consequences of her injuries”, which she refused to do.
The actress also revealed she previously pressured Tarantino to find and hand over the footage and has now given the results of her own inquiries over to police.
In her online post, she explained that Tarantino had given her the footage years later so she could “expose it… with full knowledge it could cause him personal harm”.
The award-winning actress added that Tarantino “was deeply regretful and remains remorseful”.
He told Deadline Hollywood: “I thought, if I get this footage to her and she puts it out there in the world, that a crash expert can look at it and determine exactly what happened.”
A spokesman for Harvey Weinstein said: “Mr Weinstein did not give instructions to destroy the vehicle or orchestrate a cover-up and this is the first time he has learned that Ms Thurman had any issues regarding the handling of her accident.”