Quentin Tarantino suing Gawker for posting leaked 'Hateful Eight' script

Gawker Media didn’t leak Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight script, but the Oscar winner is not pleased that one of the company’s blogs posed a link to it. This morning, he filed a lawsuit against the company.

Last week, Tarantino grabbed the attention of the Internet by proclaiming that he will not make The Hateful Eight right away after it was leaked. However, he still planned on publishing the script as a book. Tarantino specifically said that he gave the script to the agents of actors Bruce Dern, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen. He believed Dern’s CAA team might be responsible, but the agency has denied that.

Although TheWrap did not publish the entire script, the site shared some details, including that Tarantino wanted to film it in 70mm. The site noted that the script has one outside shot at the very beginning of the film, but most of the action would be inside as if it were a stage play.

However, Gawker’s Defamer did post a link to the script with the headline “​Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script.”

Tarantino and his lawyer, Martin Singer at Lavely & Singer, filed his copyright lawsuit this morning, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “Their headline boasts... 'Here,' not someplace else, but 'Here' on the Gawker website,” the lawsuit alleges. “The article then contains multiple direct links for downloading the entire Screenplay through a conveniently anonymous URL by simply clicking button-links on the Gawker page, and brazenly encourages Gawker visitors to read the Screenplay illegally with the invitation to 'Enjoy!' it.”

Deadline notes that the suit also references Gawker’s past controversies. “This time they’ve gone too far,” the lawsuit reads. “Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff’s screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire screenplay illegally.”

Gawker has become well-known for getting under the skins of celebrities and establishments. The site posted a Hulk Hogan sex tape and requested un-Photoshopped images of Lena Dunham. Dunham also clashed with the site when it posted her book proposal.

image: TWC

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