Netflix stands by the film, calling it "a social commentary against the sexualization of young children."

`Cuties` director Maïmouna Doucoure has broken her silence in an interview with Zora amid escalating backlash that claims her award-winning coming-of-age drama sexualizes its young actresses. Outrage over `Cuties` erupted August 20 after Netflix debuted a poster for the film that featured its child stars making suggestive dance poses in revealing outfits. The poster led to accusations the film sexualizes its stars, when in reality `Cuties` openly criticizes the ways in which society puts pressure on young girls to be overtly sexual.

While Netflix apologized for inappropriately marketing the film, the September 9 debut of `Cuties` on the streaming platform has caused backlash to explode on social media. Rallying calls for Netflix subscribers to delete their accounts because of `Cuties` resulted in the Twitter hashtags #DeleteNetflix and #CancelNetflix becoming top trends in the U.S. on September 10. The renewed backlash forced Netflix to issue a follow-up statement defending the film.

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During the Toronto Film Festival, #Cuties director Maïmouna Doucoure has defended her French indie film on #Netflix from accusations that it hyper-sexualizes pre-pubescent girls. Details at the link in bio.

A post shared by Hollywood Reporter (@hollywoodreporter) on Sep 14, 2020 at 11:30am PDT

Netflix never consulted Doucoure about the marketing for the movie, so she had no control over the first poster for the film that jump started the controversy in the first place. The main takeaway from the backlash for Doucoure is to make sure moving forward she `takes the time to look at each step, even beyond the marketing...Next time, I will see the poster, and we'll communicate better.`

`Cuties` is now streaming on Netflix.