Quentin Tarantino has said he knew about Harvey Weinstein's behaviour towards women for decades and feels ashamed that he did not do more to stop it.

The director, who has worked with Weinstein on all of his films, said he wished he had "taken responsibility" after hearing several credible stories from prominent actresses about Weinstein's misconduct.

“I knew enough to do more than I did,” he told the New York Times. “There was more to it than just the normal rumours, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things.”

“I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard,” he added. “If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”

Tarantino, the director of acclaimed films such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, said his former girlfriend, Mira Sorvino, had told him that Weinstein had harassed her and touched her inappropriately.