Kill Bill Producer Lawrence Bender 'Regrets' Uma Thurman Car Crash: 'I Never Hid Anything'
Kill Bill producer Lawrence Bender is denying Uma Thurman's allegations that he hid evidence of her car crash. He also expressed regret over the stunt that led to the actress' accident.
Deep Regret
Bender expressed his deep regret at what Thurman had to go through following the accident in Mexico during the filming of Kill Bill. In a statement, the veteran producer said he always makes sure that the safety of the cast is of top priority.
"I deeply regret that Uma suffered the pain she has, both physically and emotionally, for all of these years from the accident that occurred on the set of Kill Bill. The safety of the professionals who work on the movies I produce is vital to me and I never want to let anyone down," Bender said in a statement provided to several media outlets on Wednesday.
Bender's Denial
In the same statement, the Kill Bill producer said that he never hid anything from Thurman or anyone else. He also declined being an accomplice of a cover up of any kind and said that he never would. Bender revealed that he learned of the actress' feelings about the accident a few months ago and since then, he has done his best to gather "verifiable information" from relevant sources.
"I wanted to make sure she had all of the answers she had been seeking," Bender said, adding that he has great respect for Thurman as an artist and a person and only wish her well.
Thurman's Car Crash
Bender's statement comes after Thurman talked about her car crash in an interview with the New York Times and uploaded footage of the said accident on her Instagram. Other celebrities pointed fingers at film director Quentin Tarantino, for allegedly forcing the actress to perform the driving stunt using an unsafe car.
Tarantino has since expressed his regret over the accident but denied accusations that he forced Thurman to drive the car. Instead, he encouraged her to perform the stunt by making her trust him that the road was safe. He also denied that the car was unsafe.
On her end, Thurman cleared the Kill Bill filmmaker of any fault over her car crash. Instead, she placed the blame on Bender and on executive producers Harvey Weinstein and E. Bennett Walsh. On her Instagram post along with the crash footage, the actress claimed that a "cover up" was made.
"They [Weinstein, Bender, and Walsh] lied, destroyed evidence, and continue to lie about the permanent harm they caused and then chose to suppress. The cover up did have malicious intent, and shame on these three for all eternity," Thurman wrote.
