After receiving backlash for his portrayal of Harley Quinn in the film, Suicide Squad director David Ayer appears to have apologized.

Ayer has been chastised for the sexualized representation of Margot Robbie’s character in the 2016 film, claiming that her plot arc was “eviscerated.”

The director, who was replaced by James Gunn for the Suicide Squad sequel next year, revealed that his critically panned picture was “diluted” in the end.

A fan accused Ayer of portraying Quinn as little more than “eyecandy”

“A female character in an abusive relationship is already political, my dude. The way your camera looked at her was political. The way you used her was political. You treated her as an object and she still rose above it. That was political too.”

In response, Ayer tweeted, “Retweeting because this is very thoughtfully written. Thank you for this. I am growing and learning in a changing world.”

“Sadly her story arc was eviscerated,” he said, perhaps alluding to the numerous modifications Warner Bros. made to the picture before it was released in theaters. “It was her movie in so many ways. Look I tried. I rendered Harley comic book accurate. Everything is political now. Everything. I just want to entertain. I will do better.”

Last year, Ayer was more forthright and candid than he had ever been about his experiences working on the project. He tweeted a snapshot of what looked to be a deleted sequence from the film, indicating that the final product was not what he had envisioned. “If you change the destination after the trip is complete is it still the same journey?” he inquired. “The spine of Suicide Squad was Harley’s journey. In many ways it was her movie, her escaping her relationship with Joker was the major emotional through line.”

When he continued to be chastised for the film’s poor reception, he stated flatly that it was not his “original vision” that had made it to theaters.

Margot Robbie reprised her role as Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, leading a team of Gotham’s ladies to take down a mobster.

Suicide Squad was a huge triumph at the box office in 2016, collecting more than $700 million worldwide, but it was also panned by critics. In February, Birds of Prey, a spin-off of Robbie’s Harley Quinn, was launched. The Suicide Squad, a revival of the Suicide Squad, is set to premiere on August 6, 2021.