Here's What Quentin Tarantino’s Mother Had to Say About His Vow to Never Give Her Money

Quentin Tarantino told himself he would never give his mother money due to how unsupportive she was of his writing. His mom has now responded.

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Quentin Tarantino told himself as a kid that he would never give his mother money because of how unsupportive she was of his writing. Now, his mom has responded.

In a podcast interview with Brian Koppelman, the director said he was inspired to pursue a writing career at an early age, but that he often struggled to focus in school. His mom, Connie Zastoupil, didn’t make it easier on her son. But it was one berating in particular that Tarantino never forgot or forgave. 

“And then, in the middle of her little tirade, she said, ‘Oh, and by the way, this little writing career?’—with the finger quotes—‘this little writing career that you’re doing? That shit is over,’” Tarantino said. “And when she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I was in my head, and I go, ‘Okay, lady, when I become a successful writer, you will never see one penny from my success. There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you. No Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing because you said that.’”

Besides helping her deal with the IRS, Tarantino has held true to this claim. 

In a statement sent to USA Today, Quentin’s mother responded to that claim, and showed nothing but support for her son. 

“Regarding my son Quentin—I support him, I’m proud of him and love him and his growing new family,” she said. “It gave me great joy to dance at his wedding and receive his news upon the birth of my grandson Leo.”

Zastoupil added that it’s easy for comments to “spin and go viral without full context” and that she does “not wish to participate in this salacious transactional media frenzy.” 

When the filmmaker got in trouble writing screenplays in class, he said teachers often saw it as “a defiant act of rebellion that I’m doing this instead of my school work.” QT said his mom fell into that group as well, and that she saw screenwriting as a mere distraction from his academia.

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