Jordan Peterson courts controversy after declaring a plus-size model 'not beautiful'. Photo / Getty
Controversial psychologist and writer, Dr Jordan Peterson, 59, has quit Twitter after his tweets about plus-sized model Yumi Nu led to a fierce backlash.
On Tuesday night, Peterson shared his thoughts on Nu's Sports Illustrated cover, saying he didn't find the 25-year-old attractive.
"Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that," he wrote to his 2.7 million followers.
Peterson doubled-down on his comments, blaming the outrage on "politically correct" woke culture.
"Rage away, panderers. And tell me you believe that such images are not conscious and cynical manipulation by the oh-so virtuous politically correct," he tweeted.
Nu's fans immediately came to her defence. Some called the writer out for his hypocrisy, throwing a few jabs at Peterson's appearance, while others retweeted his tweet using photos of Peterson himself.
"I'm not sure what's worse, that a man publicly shames a woman he doesn't find attractive (while wanting to leave a site he calls 'vicious'), calls it 'authoritarian tolerance' when others find her attractive, or that he lures men into believing his words or ideas have validity," one commenter wrote.
"Sheesh. Big fan here. I find my girlfriend with a body type like this quite beautiful. Dial it back a bit homie," shared another.
"Why do men feel it's their duty to publicly pronounce their view on the attractiveness of women? Couldn't you just keep it to yourself?" another wrote.
Later Nu also responded to Peterson's comments, appearing unfussed.
"Hoes mad," she wrote.
She later included a link to her Spotify profile, and asked fans to stream her music.
The backlash proved too harsh for Peterson, who announced he would be temporarily leaving the social media platform. He claimed the "endless flood of vicious insult is really not something that can be experienced anywhere else", and would continue communicating with his fans through articles or videos.
"So I told my staff to change my password, to keep me from temptation, and am departing once again," he tweeted.
"If I have something to say I'll write an article or make a video. If the issue is not important enough to justify that then perhaps it would be best to just let it go."
However, Peterson appears to be continuing to use Twitter. Since his "bye for now" tweet, the 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos author has shared at least 27 tweets. His latest post is from 5am today in which he thanked his supporters for reaching 5 million subscribers.
Peterson is no stranger to controversy. He's been critiqued for his controversial claims, which include committing to an all-meat diet to cure benzodiazepine withdrawal and discounting climate change.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the divisive figure also slammed Australia's coronavirus management strategy, accusing us of operating under a "police state".
"Australians (and perhaps all in the west): are you being asked to choose between the dangers of a police state vs the dangers of Covid?" his shared in a tweet.
"I would certainly prefer the relatively low risk of the latter to the increasingly unpleasant certainty of the former."
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