Joker director thinks 'comedies don't work anymore' because of 'woke culture'

Todd Phillips just keeps riling people up on the Joker press tour.

Phillips, who before helming Joker directed comedies like The Hangover and Old School, rails in a new Vanity Fair interview against what he calls "woke culture," saying his frustration inspired him to make the new DC film.

"Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," Phillips said. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore — I'll tell you why, because all the f---ing funny guys are like, 'F--- this sh--, because I don't want to offend you.' It's hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, 'I'm out.'"

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Phillips said the idea for Joker came from trying to create something "irreverent" like his past movies while also saying "f--- comedy."

Joker has been mired in controversy in the lead-up to its Friday release, with some critics expressing anxiety that its story about a disaffected, mentally ill man who turns to violence could be taken the wrong way by the wrong people. Some families of victims of the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, which left 12 people dead during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, also recently voiced concern that the movie could inspire violence. Phillips has repeatedly dismissed this idea, in a recent interview saying the controversy only shows "how easily the far left can sound like the far right when it suits their agenda."

Amid the controversy and these contentious interviews, Warner Bros. made the decision to premiere the film over the weekend without allowing press questions on the red carpet, saying "we just feel it's time for people to see the film," which the studio noted "a lot has been said about." That may be an understatement.