EXCLUSIVE
Quentin Tarantino has feuded with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including George Clooney and Uma Thurman.
Feb. 8 2026, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
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Quentin Tarantino has long cultivated an image as cinema’s most outspoken auteur, but the director is facing renewed criticism after a fresh round of public insults revived claims Hollywood’s enfant terrible has spent decades antagonizing colleagues – and OK! has the details on all the power players he’s ever offended.
Tarantino, 62, rose to prominence after the release of Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and went on to direct films including Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Known for his combative interview style and fierce loyalty to his own opinions, the filmmaker has historically dismissed criticism as part of his persona.
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Quentin Tarantino is facing renewed criticism over his fresh insults.
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That tolerance appears to be thinning following remarks he made about actor Paul Dano during a podcast appearance earlier this year.
Speaking to author Bret Easton Ellis, Tarantino criticized Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood, claiming: “He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.” He went on to disparage other actors, including Matthew Lillard and Owen Wilson.
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Quentin Tarantino called Paul Dano a ‘weak actor.’
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The comments prompted a backlash across the industry, with Daniel Day-Lewis, who featured alongside Dano in There Will Be Blood, publicly defending his costar.
The episode has drawn renewed attention to Tarantino’s history of confrontations. Actor George Clooney, who worked with Tarantino on From Dusk Till Dawn and ER, previously said the director dismissed his career.
He hit back by saying: “He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about Brad (Pitt) and somebody else, and then this guy goes, ‘Well, what about George?’ He goes, ‘He’s not a movie star.’ And then he literally said something like, ‘Name me a movie since the millennium.’ And I was like, ‘Since the millennium? That’s kind of my whole f—— career.'”
Iconic director Spike Lee has repeatedly criticized Tarantino’s use of racial slurs.
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George Clooney said Quentin Tarantino dismissed his career.
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The dispute intensified with the release of Django Unchained in 2013.
Lee told Vibe magazine: “I can’t speak on it ’cause I’m not gonna see it. The only thing I can say is it’s disrespectful to my ancestors to see that film.”
Tarantino later accused Lee of attacking him publicly rather than discussing concerns privately.
Tensions also emerged between Tarantino and Denzel Washington, during rewrites on Crimson Tide in 1995.
Washington reportedly objected to racial language added to the script, resulting in a heated on-set confrontation.
Director Oliver Stone has spoken of his anger after Tarantino criticized Natural Born Killers, which was based on Tarantino’s script.
Stone said: “All over the world – everywhere we went – we were hurt by the critics with him saying we had rewritten the script… it was just outrageous.”
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Tensions emerged between Quentin Tarantino and Denzel Washington during rewrites on ‘Crimson Tide’ in 1995.
Uma Thurman also described a dangerous stunt on Kill Bill: Vol 2 that left her injured.
She said: “Quentin came into my trailer and didn’t like to hear, ‘No’… he said, ‘I promise you the car is fine.'” Tarantino later admitted: “I talked (Uma) into getting in the car… and it wasn’t.”
Tarantino also clashed with David Letterman, after a joke about the director’s then-girlfriend Mira Sorvino “dating that weasel.”
Letterman recalled Tarantino threatening him by phone, concluding “the guy is full-blown, clinically goofy.”
But Tarantino’s most damaging comments resurfaced during the #MeToo era, when the filmmaker apologized to Samantha Geimer for remarks made in 2003 defending Roman Polanski, who had s– with her when she was only 13.
“I want to publicly apologise to Samantha Geimer for my cavalier remarks,” he said.
Despite the controversies, Tarantino continues to defend his bluntness, as peers now question whether his provocation has crossed into all-out cruelty.
