Quentin Tarantino shocked reporters when he addressed the use of the N-word in his film “Django Unchained” backstage at the 70th Annual Golden Globes.
According to both E! Online and The Hollywood Reporter, less than a minute into his press conference, the Best Screenplay winner used the slur and caused the usually bustling room to momentarily fall silent.
The word is used more than 100-plus times in the 19th-century-based film that stars Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.
“They think I should soften it, that I should lie, that I should massage.” Tarantino said, referring to critics like director Spike Lee, who criticized the use of the slur in the film.
“I would never do that when it comes to my characters,” the director added.
The outspoken auteur has already went on the record on how he’s unapologetic about the racially-charged language in his film.
“I think it’s kind of ridiculous, because no one can actually say with a straight face that we use the word more than it was used in 1858 in Mississippi. So since they can’t say that, what they’re basically [saying] is I should lie,” Tarantino said in an interview with MTV News.
Former “X Factor” judge L.A. Reid recently sung high praises for “Django Unchained” but he told Page Six his one criticism: “Although the N-word was unfortunately used liberally during the time the film depicted, I felt Q.T. should have approached the use of the word more sensitively and used it a lot less . . . It’s a painful part of America’s history and still an open wound.”