Quentin Tarantino refuses to give his mother a cent of his $150M net worth because of what she said when he was 12

“My mom always had a hard time about my scholastic non-abilities,” Tarantino told Brian Koppelman on a July 2021 episode of “The Moment with Brian Koppelman.” One day, he said, she was berating him for not paying attention in school.

“In the middle of her little tirade, she said, ‘Oh, and by the way, this little “writing career”… that you’re doing, that s— is f—— over,’” Tarantino told Koppelman. “She said that to me, in that sarcastic way. I was in my head, and I go, ‘OK lady, when I become a successful writer, you will never see penny one from my success.’”

For the most part, Tarantino has stuck to that. Here’s where he’s strayed from his promise — and why his lack of support might not be as surprising as it originally seems.

Tarantino minimal support

When 12-year-old Tarantino made that pledge to himself, he had expensive gifts and luxuries in mind.

“There’ll be no house for you, there’s no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for Mommy, you get nothing because you said that,” Tarantino told Koppelman in reference to his fight with his mom.

In that respect, he’s been totally true to his word: He hasn’t given his mother, a nurse named Connie Zastoupil, any of those things. But he has helped his mother out financially. In the podcast episode, he said that he helped her out of a “jam with the IRS” at one point.

Koppelman urged Tarantino during the episode to give up his view, but the director wouldn’t budge.

“Remember: There are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what’s meaningful,” Tarantino said.

Despite the relative lack of support, Zastoupil says she’s proud of her son.

“Regarding my son Quentin — I support him, I’m proud of him and love him and his growing new family,” she said in a statement to USA Today in August 2021. “It gave me great joy to dance at his wedding and receive his news upon the birth of my Grandson Leo.”

If Tarantino’s pledge bothers her, she’s not going to admit it to the press.

Higher-income kids give less

The move might seem harsh, especially since Tarantino himself admits that his mother probably didn’t mean it how it came off to him.

“She just meant don’t do it in f—— class, you know, when you’re supposed to be doing something else,” Tarantino told Koppelman.