SALON

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 12:24 PM UTC

Tarantino drops lawsuit against Alan Ball’s screaming macaws

Quentin finally settles with "True Blood" neighbor on terrifying bird situation

By

Topics: Celebrity, Alan Ball, Movies,

Tarantino drops lawsuit against Alan Ball's screaming macawsTarantino vs. Ball.

One of Hollywood’s oddest feuds ended recently when Quentin Tarantino finally settled his lawsuit against neighbor Alan Ball and his screaming, horrifying birds. Who even knew these guys were neighbors? Hollywood!

You see, the “True Blood” creator has (had?) a bunch of exotic macaws that emit “blood-curdling screams,” making it impossible for Tarantino to write his next movie. Because it is very distracting to write scenes where you bash people’s heads in with bats or cut their legs off with samurai swords if it sounds like your neighbor is beating you to the punch.

Ball promised to build a soundproof aviary but back last June, these devil-birds started screeching for their lives again. In March, after being forced to endure “obnoxious pteradactyl-like screams,” Tarantino hired celebrity lawyer Marty Singer to get involved. Two weeks ago, the case was dropped. No mention of how they settled, just a short blip in a New York Times profile about Singer two days ago.

It’s fun to try and imagine what happened here, especially since neither of the directors moved. Did Tarantino cut one of the macaws’ heads off and put it in Ball’s bed? Did Alan Ball promise to write a foul-mouthed vampire character based on Tarantino into the next season of “True Blood?”  We’ll never know, as Singer’s only response to the suit was: “That’s been resolved.”

Oh, that doesn’t sound very good at all.

Drew Grant

Drew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Serena William in an emotional moment during the final women's French Open match against Russia's Maria Sharapova. Williams won 6-4, 6-4, while Rafael Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the men's finals on Sunday.
    AP/David Vincent

  • Ongoing anti-government protests at Taksim Square. Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the protests began on May 31. On Friday, Turkey's government agreed to suspend redevelopment plans for Gezi Park, which initially sparked the protests, until a court rules on its legality.
    AP/Vadim Ghirda

  • Billy Porter is all heart and "sole" at a performance of the Cyndi Lauper-scored "Kinky Boots," which won the Tony Award for Best musical on Sunday night.
    AP/The O+M Company, Matthew Murphy

  • A chemical plant explosion and fire in Louisiana on Thursday morning killed a 29-year-old and injured 73 more. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.
    AP/Gerald Herbert

  • So much for pie-throwing loyalty. Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch and third wife Wendy Deng announced they are filing for divorce on Thursday after 14 years of marriage. The pair are pictured at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles this year.
    AP/Matt Sayles

  • Ariel Castro, accused of holding three women captive in his house for roughly a decade, walks into a Cleveland courtroom on Wednesday. Castro, 52, pleaded not guilty to hundreds of charges that include rape and kidnapping.
    AP/Tony Dejak

  • Supporters of Iranian presidential candidate, Hasan Rowhani, campaigned with banners on the streets of Tehran on Wednesday in anticipation of the Iranian presidential elections on Friday.
    AP/Ebrahim Noroozi

  • People watch from the side of the road as a flame-fighting plane passes over the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs. A raging fire which has been burning since midweek has destroyed more than 360 homes and killed two.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • A restaurant in Dunabogdany, Hungary, is roof-deep in floodwaters spilling from the River Danube. Heavy rainfalls this week continued to flood major rivers and lakes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland the Czech Republic and Hungary.
    AP/MTI, Balazs Mohai

  • A gas mask-sporting demonstrator walks past Portuguese graffiti on a bank which reads "Fascist government." Thousands took to the streets São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday to violently protest a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares, while similar protests took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Porte Alegre in southern Brazil.
    AP/Brennan Linsley

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Video of the Day

Watch More Here »

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations