Oscar-Winning Icon Forced to Deny Rumors He Died in Iran War

DEATH PROOF

You can “Kill Bill,” but not this director.

Quentin Tarantino 2024
Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images

Quentin Tarantino is alive and well, contrary to false reports that the Oscar-winning director died as a result of Donald Trump’s war on Iran.

Over the weekend, rumors circulated on X that Tarantino, 62, had died from an Iranian missile attack on Israel, where he lives with his wife and two kids for part of the year.

Quentin Tarantino waving 2023
Director Quentin Tarantino is alive, contrary to widespread false reports on X. LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images

Despite the rumors, Tarantino is alive and well, sources close to the filmmaker told Deadline on Monday. The rumors were incorrectly attributed to the publication, which quickly corrected the misinformation. False reports, also misattributed to Deadline, spread surrounding the death of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, which the publication corrected as well.

In addition to the rumors, AI-generated photos of the Pulp Fiction director sitting in an Israeli bomb shelter spread across social media.

Missile strikes in Tel Aviv February 28, 2026
Tel Aviv, where Tarantino lives, has been targeted by Iran's retaliatory missile strikes. JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

The missile strikes come after President Trump, 79, began a war in Iran on Saturday. Over the weekend, the U.S. and Israel launched missiles into Iran, which retaliated with drone strikes across the Middle East.

Since 2020, Tarantino has split his time between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.

Daniella Pick, Tarantino’s wife and an Israeli singer, said the Death Proof director never questioned whether he would stay in Israel through the course of any ongoing wars.

“It was during the war that Tarantino said, ‘We’ll be here.’ It was clear,” Pick, 42, told The Jerusalem Post in December. “He isn’t afraid, and once he said something funny to me: ‘Well, whatever. Like if something happens, I’ll die as a Zionist.’”

Quentin Tarantino, Daniella Tarantino (Pick) 2025
Tarantino has lived in Tel Aviv, Israel for more than five years, splitting his time with another home in Los Angeles. Lionel Hahn/Getty Images

The Kill Bill director is currently working on his 10th, and according to him, final film after scrapping the would-be project The Movie Critic. Tarantino has not yet announced the film’s title or release date.

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