Suicide Squad director David Ayer defends himself from claims he sexualised Harley Quinn

‘It hurts to be attacked like this’

Suicide Squad director David Ayer has defended himself from criticism over how he chose to depict Harley Quinn.

Following the announcement that he would be directing Netflix’s adaptation of Six Years, the novel by Harlan Coben, Ayer was targeted by a tweeter who accused him of overly sexualising the DC character.

“[I] wonder if David Ayer will have the women in the movie in super booty shorts and give us gratuitous a** and t** shots?” one tweeter wrote, to which Ayer replied: “Why would I do that? I know I’m a man, but I have a good soul and support and believe in feminism. It hurts to be attacked like this. I’m not your enemy.”

The tweeter did not leave it here. They replied: ”Dunno mate you did it in Suicide Squad so I thought I’d ask. Good for you that you learned though [sic].”

Ayer responded: “What have I learned? Should male directors only direct women in coveralls? What if an actor wants to be depicted as a sexual being? Am I permitted to do that? What are the rules? Help!”

The filmmaker, who regularly uses Twitter to discuss the filmmaking process behind his 2017 film, has defended his depiction of Quinn on social media several times.

Earlier this year, he he replied to a follower who described Quinn as “sexualised eye candy” in comparison to the way she’s portrayed in Birds of Prey.

Robbie reprised the role for the spin-off, which was directed by Cathy Yan.