Celebrity doctor and television host Dr Phil caused outrage on Twitter this week when he posted a tweet asking if it was ok to have sex with a girl who was drunk.
Though his tweet has since been deleted, it was up long enough for people to respond to it. His controversial tweet received huge negative backlash and criticism from fans.
The show responded with a statement clarifying that they were asking the question for an upcoming episode:
“This Tweet was intended to evoke discussion leading into a very serious show topic based upon a recent news story, hence the #teensaccused label” they said.
“It was a poll question, not a statement or a joke. As he has maintained over many years, Dr. Phil believes that the position of those incapacitated in any fashion; be it drugs, alcohol, age or mental illness can not and do not have the capacity to give their consent to anything, especially sex, which could have life changing repercussions. This was a research post in preparation for a show, not a personal post and Dr. Phil deleted it the second he saw it. It was clearly ill-advised. We sincerely apologize that it suggested anything other than what was intended, data gathering.”
Carmen Rios, a former college sexual assault activist, started a petition asking the medical show to educate viewers on assault prevention:
“I am shocked and appalled by this question” she wrote.
“I am asking Dr. Phil to produce a show that shines a light on survivors of rape and sexual assault and begin a national conversation about the specifics of consent – which includes not raping people while they are drunk or otherwise unable to consent.”
“The many people who have survived rape — not committed it — are the ones who should have a national platform to discuss how we as a society can make sure tragedies like Steubenville never happen again.”
“Please sign my petition asking Dr. Phil to publicly announce that he will produce and air a show that centers survivors’ voices and educates the public about the true definition of rape and sexual assault, as well as how to prevent it.”
