Playboy backtracks from Morricone interview claiming composer called Tarantino a ‘cretin’

THE German edition of Playboy magazine has become embroiled in an unlikely spat with Ennio Morricone, the veteran film composer, over an interview in which it claimed he described the director Quentin Tarantino as a “cretin”, and said his films are “trash”.

Mr Morricone, 90, accused the magazine of fabricating the comments.

Playboy initially stood by its story, saying the Italian composer made the comments in an interview at the end of June, but the magazine has since distanced itself from the article. A statement from Florian Boitin, the magazine’s editor in chief, said: “Based on the information now at our disposal, we must unfortunately assume that the words spoken in the interview have, in part, been reproduced incorrectly.

“We would like to express our regret should Mr Morricone have been portrayed in a false light. We are exploring legal measures.”

Mr Morricone said at the weekend that he had never given the interview, and that he had instructed his lawyers to take legal action against the magazine. The alleged interview appears in the publication’s December edition.

“The man is a cretin. He only steals from others and puts it together in a new way. None of that is original,” the magazine quoted Mr Morricone as saying in online excerpts.

“This is completely false,” Mr Morricone said.

Ennio Morricone, who worked with Quentin Tarantino on The Hateful Eight, says he sees him as a great director