Quentin Tarantino has hit back at the abusive comments he received for publicly praising box office flop Joker: Folie à Deux.

The Pulp Fiction director shocked fans when he came to the defence of Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, which was widely panned by audiences and bombed at the box office in October.

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Tarantino hit back at the haters who criticised him for simply liking a movie most people didn’t.

“I go on a show and I say that I like Joker 2. Now there’s 150 articles on it,” the filmmaker said, reports Variety. “And then you read the comments: ‘Quentin is a f**king a**hole. That movie f**king sucks. He’s a f**king a**hole for saying that.’ Why am I a f**king a**hole? I liked the f**king movie!”

Questioning why people cared so much about his opinion, Tarantino continued, “You either like the movie or you don’t. I’m not plugging the movie. I’m not doing anything. I’m just saying I like it. Who gives a f**k what I like? What do you care what the f**k I like?”

Joker: Folie à Deux, the follow-up to the 2019 smash hit Joker, marked the return of Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck alongside Lady Gaga as his love interest Lee, aka Harley Quinn.

On The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast in October, the Kill Bill director said he “really liked” Joker 2 and added, “I’m just nihilistic enough to kind of enjoy a movie that doesn’t quite work as a movie or that’s like a big, giant mess to some degree.”

He also praised Phillips for “saying f**k you” to comic book geeks, the audience and Hollywood in general with the direction of his musical sequel.

© Cover Media