German Playboy stands by Ennio Morricone story slamming Quentin Tarantino

A day after veteran Italian music composer Ennio Morricone rubbished the interview with Playboy in which he was quoted calling director Quentin Tarantino "a cretin", the publisher of the magazine's German edition is standing by the story.

On Saturday, German Playboy quoted Morricone, who won the Oscar for his work on Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight", where he criticised the filmmaker for his "trash" films.

The music composer released a statement Sunday in which he dubbed the comments "totally false".

Morricone denied making the comments about Tarantino and his work. He also threatened to sue the German magazine.

On Monday, Herbert Burda Media, the publishing group that owns Playboy in Germany, issued a statement defending the interview.

"We are surprised that composer Ennio Morricone denies giving an interview to German Playboy. In fact, the conversation took place on June 30, 2018, at his estate in Rome.

"The interview, about the concert organizer Semmel Concerts, which was also present at the interview, had been agreed to with German Playboy. We also cannot understand that parts of the published statements were apparently not found to have been accurate," the statement by the company read.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Herbert Burda and Playboy Germany have not said if an audio recording of the alleged interview exists.