TARANTINO RACIST? IMPOSSIBLE, SAYS JACKSON A

ctor Samuel L. Jackson (right) has defended Quentin Tarantino (above), saying it is impossible that the acclaimed director “is racist with his movies”.

Tarantino’s last two movies, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, received criticism upon their release for the frequent use of the N-word, with some movie fans accusing him of racism.

Jackson gave one of the most stunning performances of his career in Tarantino’s landmark film Pulp Fiction (1994). He also had a leading role in The Hateful Eight (2015) and played a character named Uncle Tom in Django Unchained (2012).

An interview, given during the release of The Hateful Eight, has just been unearthed. In it, Jackson says, “[Quentin] has enough problem being vilified himself as a racist because he uses n ***** in his scripts that much, or puts those kinds of words in a character’s mouth.” The actor continues, “I always tell people... I can’t understand why they can’t look at his work and realise that every character he has given me has pretty much been the smartest character in the film. [They] have the most dignity and respect and kinda run things... Not a fool of any sort and understands a whole lot of what’s going on in life and in the world.”

Jackson emphasises that such black characters couldn’t have been written by a racist.

In the interview, the actor also asks, “Did they have another name to call the [black] people they were talking about at the time?” He adds, “I grew up in the South. I heard ‘n ***** ’ all my life. I’m not disturbed by it.”

PHOTO: OMAR VEGA/AP PHOTO: EVAN AGOSTINI/AP