Bruce Lee disrespected stuntmen, Quentin Tarantino alleges on Joe Rogan talk show as he returns to dispute over fight scene in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Director cites as a source for his claim that Lee had ‘nothing but disrespect for stuntmen’ a book by the martial arts star’s biographer Matthew Polly

However, Polly said in a 2019 interview that Lee was known for being ‘very considerate’ towards people ‘below him on film sets, particularly the stuntmen’

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Quentin Tarantino at a 2019 premiere of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The director has returned to the controversy over a fight scene in the film between a fictional character, Cliff Booth, and Bruce Lee. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:26pm, 30 Jun 2021Updated: 3:08am, 1 Jul 2021

Movie director Quentin Tarantino has returned to his dispute with Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon over how he portrayed her father in his film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in an appearance with radio talk-show host Joe Rogan.

There was a lot of controversy around a fight scene in the film between Lee, played by Mike Moh, and a fictional stuntman, Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt.

During the scene, which occurs on the set of The Green Hornet, Lee is portrayed as boastful, claiming he could cripple Muhammad Ali, and eggs Booth on to have a three-round fight.

“I can understand his daughter having a problem with it, it’s her f***ing father, all right, I get that, but anybody else, go s*** a d***,” Tarantino, 58, tells Rogan in a segment from The Joe Rogan Experience posted to YouTube on Wednesday.

Brad Pitt, as fictional character Cliff Booth, and Mike Moh as Bruce Lee in their fight scene in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Tarantino goes on to say that the stuntmen working with Lee on The Green Hornet hated him, and claims this is in Matthew Polly’s book Bruce Lee: A Life, published in 2018.

“Bruce had nothing but disrespect for stuntmen. And he was always hitting them. He was always hitting them with his feet, he was always tagging – it’s called tagging when you hit a stuntman for real,” the director tells Rogan.