A 15-year-old interview in which Quentin Tarantino passionately defends Roman Polanski has resurfaced amid controversy over Uma Thurman's near-fatal crash while filming Kill Bill.

The actress spoke about the car crash in an interview with the New York Times last week, in which she also alleged she was sexually assaulted by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.

Responding to the piece, Tarantino said the stunt was the 'biggest regret of his life.'

Now, audio from a Howard Stern interview with the director in 2003 – in which he spends more than eight minutes defending Polanski - is going viral.

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A 15-year-old interview in which Quentin Tarantino (left) passionately defends Roman Polanski (right) has resurfaced

Polanski was charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, but fled to France before his sentencing.

Despite this, Tarantino insisted Polanski was not a rapist and claimed the girl 'was down to party with Roman' – despite co-host Robin Quivers reminding him that she had been drugged and plied with alcohol.

'He didn't rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape, that's not quite the same thing,' Tarantino said.

'He had sex with a minor. That's not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you're talking about violent, throwing them down... it's like one of the most violent crimes in the world.

'You can't throw the word 'rape' around, it's like throwing the word 'racist' around. It doesn't apply to everything people use it for. He was guilty of having sex with a minor.'

The 2003 interview resurfaced after Uma Thurman spoke about her car crash on the set of Kill Bill, directed by Tarantino (pictured with Thurman in 2003)

Shockingly, Tarantino continued: 'She wanted to have it. Dated the guy… and by the way, we're talking about America's morals, we're not talking about the morals in Europe and everything.'

When Stern questioned why a 'grown man' didn't understand that sex with a minor was wrong, Tarantino again jumped to Polanski's defence.

'Look, she was down with it and she's talked about it. I'm right, she's talked about it. Now she's an adult, she's got a whole other story.'

After a transcript of the victim's testimony is read out, Tarantino doubled down.

'Of course she's gonna say this because she knows she was in trouble with her mom,' he said.

'His version sounds more likely, sounds really really more likely.'

When asked why Polanski couldn't just get a woman his own age, Tarantino replied: 'He likes girls!'

And when pushed about why he is offering such an impassioned defense of Polanski, Tarantino claimed: 'I've met him once but he's not a friend or anything.'

'That's not rape!' Tarantino's 2003 interview with Howard Stern HOWARD STERN: How can you defend, see I don't understand this, how come Hollywood embraces this madman, this director, who raped a 13-year-old girl? QUENTIN TARANTINO: He didn't rape a 13-year-old. It was statutory rape, that's not quite the same thing. It's statutory rape. He had sex with a minor. That's not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you're talking about violent, throwing them down... it's like one of the most violent crimes in the world. You can't throw the word 'rape' around, it's like throwing the word 'racist' around. It doesn't apply to everything that people use it for. He was guilty of having sex with a minor. ROBIN QUIVERS: That she didn't want to have? QT: No that wasn't the case at all. She wanted to have it. Dated the guy… RQ: She was 13! QT: And by the way, we're talking about America's morals, we're not talking about the morals in Europe and everything. HS: Wait a minute. You have sex with a 13-year-old girl and you're a grown man, you know that that's wrong... RQ: Giving her booze and pills... QT: Look, she was down with it... and she's talked about it. She's talked about it. I'm right, she's talked about it since. Like "no, he didn't do anything to me, it was the technicality of being 13." Now she's an adult, she's got a whole other story. Of course she's gonna say this because she knows she was in trouble with her mom. I've met him once, but he's not a friend or anything. His version sounds more likely, sounds really really more likely. HS: He could get a girl his own age… QT: He likes girls! HS: If you had a daughter... if he had intercourse with her? QT: Yes, there's be a bullet in Polanski's head... HS: You would kill him? QT: I'd beat the hell out of him, but the situation was not that she was against this, she was down to party with Roman. Lets talk about it the wayt it was. She was down with the party, he was down with the party. I don't believe its rape for these 13-year-old party girls. Advertisement

In an interview with the New York Times last week, Thurman (with Tarantino, second from right) also alleged she was sexually assaulted by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein (right)

But he admits, that if it had been his daughter in the situation, 'there would have been a bullet in Polanski's head.'

He added: 'I'd beat the hell out of him, but the situation was not that she was against this, she was down to party with Roman.

'I don't believe its rape for these 13-year-old party girls.'

He then questioned the interviewers: 'When did you guys turn into Bill O'Reilly?'

O'Reilly was fired from Fox News last year over allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and racial discrimination from former female colleagues.

Tarantino's interview with Howard Stern resurfaced a day after the New York Times piece in which Thurman spoke about the crash on the set of Kill Bill.

She has since posted footage of it on Instagram, writing that she doesn't believe Tarantino had withheld it maliciously and they are now on good terms.

Tarantino has said that he had not considered the driving shot on the Mexico set to be a stunt at the time, before Thurman lost control of the Karmann Ghia and crashed into a palm tree.

'I am guilty, for putting her in that car, but not the way that people are saying I am guilty of it,' he told Deadline.

'It's the biggest regret of my life, getting her to do that stunt. '

The story of the crash accompanied allegations made by Thurman (pictured together in 2016) that she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel in London

The director added: 'I knew that the piece was happening.

'Uma and I had talked about it, for a long period of time, deciding how she was going to do it.

'She wanted clarity on what happened in that car crash, after all these years. She asked, could I get her the footage?

'I had to find it, 15 years later. We had to go through storage facilities, pulling out boxes.'

Tarantino added: 'I don't know exactly what caused the crash, and Uma doesn't know exactly what cause the crash.

'She has her suspicions and I have mine.'

Tarantino said he did the drive himself to test the road was safe but when Thurman did the shot she drove in the opposite direction.

He said: 'I told her it would be OK. I told her the road was a straight line. I told her it would be safe.

'And it wasn't. I was wrong. I didn't force her into the car. She got into it because she trusted me. And she believed me.'

Tarantino said the car crash on the Mexico set of Kill was the 'biggest regret of his life.' Pictured, Thurman in the film

He added: 'That was one of my most horrendous mistakes, that I didn't take the time to run the road, one more time, just to see what I would see.'

Recalling the moment of the crash, he said: 'Watching her fight for the wheel... remembering me hammering about how it was safe and she could do it.

'Emphasising that it was a straight road, a straight road ... the fact that she believed me, and I literally watched this little S curve pop up.

'And it spins her like a top. It was heartbreaking. Beyond one of the biggest regrets of my career, it is one of the biggest regrets of my life. For a myriad of reasons.'

The story of the crash accompanied allegations made by Thurman that she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel in London.

'It was such a bat to the head,' she told the Times.

'He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things.

A spokeswoman for Weinstein said the producer acknowledges making 'an awkward pass 25 years ago in England after misreading her signals'.

She said he 'immediately apologised', adding: 'Her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue.'

He is considering legal action, his lawyer, Ben Brafman, said.