In addition to telling the director to 'stop commenting' on the late martial artist, Shannon Lee writes that she is 'really f**king tired of white men in Hollywood' trying to tell her who her dad was.
- Jul 3, 2021
AceShowbiz - Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon Lee has responded to Quentin Tarantino's comment about her dad. After the "Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood" director's criticisms at the late martial artist went viral, the "Be Water" star urged him to "reconsider impact" of his words.
"Mr. Tarantino, you don't have to like Bruce Lee. I really don't care if you like him or not. You made your movie and now, clearly, you're promoting a book," the 52-year-old actress wrote in a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, July 2. "But in the interest of respecting other cultures and experiences you may not understand, I would encourage you to take a pass on commenting further about Bruce Lee and reconsider the impact of your words in a world that doesn't need more conflict and fewer cultural heroes."
Elsewhere in her op-ed, Shannon pointed out that she is "f**king tired" seeing "white men" trying to tell about Bruce. "While I am grateful that Mr. Tarantino has so generously acknowledged to Joe Rogan that I may have my feelings about his portrayal of my father, I am also grateful for the opportunity to express this: I'm really f**king tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was," the mother of one stressed.
Shannon spent most of her post criticizing "white men in Hollywood" for calling her father "arrogant and an a**hole when they have no idea and cannot fathom what it might have taken to get work in 1960s and '70s Hollywood as a Chinese man." She stated, "I'm tired of white men in Hollywood mistaking his confidence, passion, and skill for hubris and therefore finding it necessary to marginalize him and his contributions."
Shannon additionally claimed that Quentin never even met her father. "Why does Quentin Tarantino speak like he knew Bruce Lee and hated him?" she questioned, noting that she felt "weird." However, she added that the director "happily dressed the Bride in a knock-off of my father's yellow jumpsuit and the Crazy 88s in Kato-style masks and outfits for 'Kill Bill,' which many saw as a love letter to Bruce Lee."
"But love letters usually address the recipient by name, and from what I could observe at the time, Mr. Tarantino tried, interestingly, to avoid saying the name Bruce Lee as much as possible back then," Shannon elaborated. "If only he'd take the name Bruce Lee off his lips now."
In her lengthy response, Shannon stressed that Quentin's continuing criticisms of Bruce "are not welcome right now." She penned, "At a time when Asian Americans are being physically attacked, told to 'go home' because they are seen as not American, and demonized for something that has nothing to do with them, I feel moved to suggest that Mr. Tarantino's continued attacks, mischaracterizations and misrepresentations of a trailblazing and innovative member of our Asian American community, right now, are not welcome."
Quentin irked Shannon after he addressed his controversial depiction of Bruce in his latest movie "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" during a chat on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. "Where I am coming from is I can understand his daughter having a problem with it. It's her f**king father. I get that," the 58-year-old filmmaker at the time said. "But anybody else, oh suck a d**k!"
