Spoilers for Kingsman: The Secret Service, obviously…

Kingsman: The Secret Service is certainly doing better than many expected, having pulled in around $88 million worldwide amongst several praising reviews from critics and moviegoers. But if there is one thing that has split audiences, it was that joke at the end of the movie.

As a reminder, at the end of the movie Eggsy discovers the captured Princess Tilde who promises him anal sex if he comes back to rescue her. Which, he later does. While it has upset quite a few people who have seen the movie, Matthew Vaughn has defended the joke.

“If you’ve noticed, this is my Spinal Tap of trying to find 11 with every scene,” Vaughn told EW. “What happened there was I studied all the old movies, especially the Bond ones. At the end of Moonraker, he’s floating around in space on Dr. Goodhead, and they say, ‘Bond is attempting reentry.’ In The Spy Who Loved Me, he says he’s ‘keeping the British end up.’ The innuendo is pretty strong and always comes from the men. I just thought it would be great to turn it on its head by having the woman say it. I actually think it’s empowering. Some bloody feminists are accusing me of being a misogynist. I’m like, It couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a celebration of women and the woman being empowered in a weird way in my mind, which will cause a big argument again I’m sure. It’s meant to be tongue-in-cheek and crazy.”

“There was a lot of debate about whether to put [the joke] in or out. We watched it without the line, and it just felt a bit flat,” he continued. “I was surprised when people are saying to me, ‘I loved the movie. I think it’s great, but I was offended by that.’ I said, ‘Really? That’s more offensive than exploding heads, massacres in church, swearing, people being cut in half?’ I was like, come on. It’s just a joke. It’s not even graphic.”

“What you do is you say, ‘If you save the world, I’ll give you more than a kiss.’ That’s it,” Vaughn says, explaining how the scene would have played out without the joke. “Then he goes back for it and shuts the door. That’s it. Then you go, ‘Yeah, that’s okay.’ For the 20 percent who were offended by it, there are 80 percept who are rolling around laughing so hard. Those 20 percent of people just need to lighten up a little bit. It’s about pushing boundaries and having a bit of fun. It’s not meant to be offensive, and it’s definitely not misogynist or any attack on women. That’s for sure.”

What did you make of the joke? Were you offended by it?

Kingsman: The Secret Service is currently in cinemas. Check out our video interviews with Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar using the players below: