David Letterman claims Quentin Tarantino threatened to kill him
Late-night talk show great David Letterman claims he once received a threatening phone call from Oscars 2020 nominee Quentin Tarantino.
The TV host and comedian, 72, on Showtime’s “Desus & Mero,” telling co-hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero it all started when he did a bit pretending to be surprised that a stunning actress would stoop to date Tarantino, now 56.
“Is there any famous beefs you got into that you can talk on? Or do you have to sign like NDAs or?” Nice asks Letterman.
“I got into a great fight with Quentin Tarantino,” Letterman responds. “This was really good.”
Letterman says he found out from a guest on his show that a famous star — “so famous that I can’t recall the name” — was dating Tarantino and jokingly protested the relationship based on the “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood” director not being attractive or cool enough for her.
“I’m thinking the idea is Quentin Tarantino is this movie-store nerd,” Letterman says. “Now I’m pretending that I’m stunned this glorious movie star is dating this little squirrelly guy.”
Two days later, his assistant got a call from Tarantino, who asked to speak with Letterman in order to say hello — but had much more than that to express once Letterman got on the line.
“He starts screaming at me, ‘I’m gonna beat you to death, I’m gonna kill you, I’m coming to New York, and I’m gonna beat the crap out of you. How can you say that about me?’ ” Letterman recalls. “And I said, ‘Quentin, hang on a second.'”
He then got his producer to pick up the other line, so no one could accuse him of making the story up. Tarantino went “on, and on and on — like the guy is full-blown clinically goofy.”
Letterman says he asked, “Bat or fist?” and claims Tarantino responded “Bat,” and the two got to picking dates and flights. Tarantino then allegedly ghosted on the duel. Years later, Letterman says, he apologized for the ordeal.
Discussion of the Tarantino vs. Letterman beef begins at 6:13 in the video and continues sporadically.
Reps for the “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” director didn’t immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.