This week, the German-language version of Playboy published an interview with Ennio Morricone wherein the 90-year-old composer allegedly called Quentin Tarantino’s films “trash” and called the director “a cretin.” The interview also claimed that Morricone criticized the Oscars. Today, Morricone denied giving the interview to Playboy or saying any of those things about Tarantino, Variety reports.
“I have not given an interview to Playboy Germany and even more, I have never called Tarantino a cretin and certainly do not consider his films garbage,” he said in a statement to Variety. “I have given a mandate to my lawyer in Italy to take civil and penal action.”
Morricone scored Tarantino’s 2016 film The Hateful Eight, which earned him the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Score. In a new statement on his website, Morricone heaped praise on Tarantino:
I am very fond of my collaboration with him and the relationship we have developed during the time we have spent together. He is courageous and has an enormous personality. I credit our collaboration responsible for getting me an Oscar, which is for sure one of the greatest acknowledgments of my career, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to compose music for his film.
Pitchfork has reached out to Playboy representatives for comment.
Morricone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly score is featured on Pitchfork’s list of “The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.”
https://pitchfork.com/news/ennio-morricone-denies-trashing-quentin-tarantino-threatens-to-sue-over-false-interview
