Quentin Tarantino's Romance With A Controversial Comedian Landed Her A Pulp Fiction Cameo

Miramax Films

Quentin Tarantino, when he was rising to fame in the early 1990s, began dating a series of notable comedians and actresses who were also on the rise. Many probably know that Tarantino had a brief romance with Margaret Cho at the time, followed by a relationship with Kathy Griffin, two celebrated and highly awarded performers. Cho is a bisexual icon and supporter of the queer community, while Griffin is highly shocking and openly political, speaking out against President Trump and all his actions. Back in 2017, Griffin infamously posed for a photo spread wherein she was holding up a bloodied replica of Trump's severed head, drawing angry censure on social media and costing her some sponsorship deals.

Of course, Griffin has always played out on the edge and has frequently gotten in trouble for her brand of shock humor. She was once banned from participating in red carpet events for joking that Dakota Fanning, only 11 at the time, was in rehab. Griffin also made a funny joke about Jesus during the Emmys that angered some people, and also lost her a few gigs. She was banned from "The View" for mocking Barbara Walters. Griffin is hilarious, and it's surprising that her edgy jokes landed her in trouble, as they are all clearly satirical, pointedly tasteless bits. Perhaps the obscenity-writing Tarantino liked that about her. Her controversies are well-known.

When Tarantino was making "Pulp Fiction," he and Griffin were still an item, and the director arranged for Griffin to appear in his movie. It's only a cameo, and Griffin only talks to Marcellus about getting him a lawyer, but one can see her face quite clearly. She was one of the people who witnessed Butch (Bruce Willis) running over Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) in his car. 

Miramax Films

"Pulp Fiction" fans know the scene well. Butch, a boxer, recently won a boxing match that local gangster, Marcellus, asked him to deliberately lose. Butch not only won the match, but also killed his opponent in the ring. This allowed him to screw over Marcellus while also making off with a pile of money. Butch intends to surreptitiously skip town with his girlfriend, but thanks to some complications, has to run a few last errands before he can. While driving around town, Butch — in an unlucky twist of fate — sees and locks eyes with Marcellus, who just happens to be out and about getting breakfast. Butch, thinking quickly, slams on the gas and runs into Marcellus. The gangster is knocked over, but not seriously harmed. A crowd of on-lookers rush in to see if Marcellus is okay. 

In the crowd of lookie-loos is, yes, Kathy Griffin. Indeed, looking at the above frame, one can also see that Griffin is sharing a shot with fellow comedian Karen Maruyama. Griffin only appears in the one scene, however. She has spoken about her experience working on "Pulp Fiction" in the past, notably on Neal Brennan's talk show, and she was very positive about her "Pulp Fiction" experience. She loved visiting the set and seeing everything unfold. Griffin pointed out that several members of the notorious Groundlings comedy troupe ended up in "Pulp Fiction" because Tarantino was such a fan of the 1990s L.A. comedy scene. In addition to Griffin, Julia Sweeney has a cameo, and Stephen Hibbert appeared as a leather-clad sex slave. In an amusing joke, Griffin is credited as herself.

Tarantino and Griffin must have split up shortly after the experience, as Tarantino was dating actress Mira Sorvino by 1995.