Diane Kruger says Quentin Tarantino 'never abused his power' with her

Diane Kruger has spoken out in defense of her Inglourious Basterds director, Quentin Tarantino, after an on-set story resurfaced in the wake of Uma Thurman’s bombshell interview with The New York Times.

“In light of the recent allegations made by Uma Thurman against Harvey Weinstein and her terrifying work experience on Kill Bill, my name has been mentioned in numerous articles in regards to the choking scene in Inglourious Basterds… I would like to say that my work experience with Quentin Tarantino was pure joy,” the In the Fade star wrote in a statement on Instagram. “He treated me with utter respect and never abused his power or forced me to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.”

In addition to detailing assault claims against now-ousted Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Thurman had shared footage in The Times piece of a car crash that occurred on the set of Kill Bill after she felt forced into operating an unstable vehicle by Tarantino. Thurman later clarified they made peace and Weinstein and his producers are really to blame for covering it up.

“Quentin Tarantino was deeply regretful and remains remorseful about this sorry event, and gave me the footage years later so i could expose it and let it see the light of day, regardless of it most likely being an event for which justice will never be possible,” Thurman wrote on Instagram.

However, this account brought up another situation involving Kruger on Inglourious Basterds wherein her character is choked to death.

“The funny part is that Quentin’s hands are in the close-up,” she had told Parade in a 2009 interview. “I won’t give away the name of the actor who kills me, but Quentin said, ‘He’s not going to do it right, it’ll either be too much or too little. I know exactly what I need and I think I should just do it.’ I have to say it was very strange being strangled by the director.”

Following Thurman’s Times interview, Tarantino defended himself to Deadline. Regarding this scene with Kruger, he explained, “I went to Diane [Kruger], and I said, look, I’ve got to strangle you. If it’s just a guy with his hands on your neck, not putting any kind of pressure and you’re just doing this wiggling death rattle, it looks like a normal movie strangulation. It looks movie-ish.”

“This is an important moment in time and my heart goes out to Uma and anyone who has ever been the victim of sexual assault and abuse,” Kruger wrote on Instagram. “I stand with you.”