John McTiernan Speaks Out On His Prison Sentence

Two days after being sentenced to a year in prison for his part in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case, Die Hard director John McTiernan has spoken to The Hollywood Reporter to explain his side of events and why he is appealing the sentence after pleading guilty. And, bluntly, it's a very odd read.

Bear in mind first of all that McTiernan pled guilty after taped evidence proved that he had lied to investigators in the case. That's a point that he doesn't argue at all stating openly that "I don't deny any of the facts of the case anytime I knew who I was talking to." So he acknowledges knowing that what he was doing was illegal at the time. But then why appeal?

"I didn't start this because I was afraid to go to jail. It would have been much easier to go to jail. And less expensive ... That isn't why I started this fight. I started because these people have less respect for the law than they accuse me of having."

By some accounts it seems as though the judge in this case may not have had a lot of respect for McTiernan as a person but the man who pled guilty to a crime he knew he was committing and attempted to cover up turning around and accusing the judge who sentenced him for that crime of disrespecting the law is ... odd.

When asked when he'd stop making appeals McTiernan gave an answer that, again, attempted to shift the responsibility off of himself, which again, is just strangely perplexing given his acknowledgment of guilt: "We don't stop. At a certain point, someone brings a fight to you, and you wind up in the middle of it. I don't know when to stop. I'm not sure in something like this you do. You go as long as you can."

Does being arrested and charged for doing something you acknowledge as being illegal qualify as someone "bringing a fight to you"?

McTiernan notes at a couple points of his interview that his lawyers have repeatedly been advising him not to speak. He should listen to them.