Dr. Phil Tweet Ignites Drunk Rape Firestorm Before The Inevitable Delete

A Dr. Phil tweet about drunk sex was posted, attacked, and deleted all in a very short period of time on Tuesday afternoon. According to USA Today, the self-help TV doctor startled his 1.2 million followers with this tweet:

“If a girl is drunk, is it OK to have sex with her? Reply yes or no to @drphil #teenaccused.”

Uh oh.

As you might imagine, the Twitter reaction to Dr. Phil’s tweet wasn’t positive. Your teacher might have told you that there was no such thing as a stupid question.

But guess what. She was lying.

Some replies were fairly terse. “No,” “NO!” and “NO! With an emphasis on the no” were three typical comments.

“Of course not,” was another standard reply.

And the “yes” responses seemed to mostly come from self-appointed humorists.

. @DrPhil #teensaccused As long as she doesn’t remember it, it’s perfectly fine.

— Josh Ó’Gallchobhair (@JoshTraceur) August 20, 2013

@DrPhil it depends on how inebriated the other party involved is. #TeensAccused

— Jared PA Yuro (@JaredYuro) August 20, 2013

All joking aside, most people seemed to feel that Dr. Phil’s tweet suggested that he was looking for a way to excuse drunken rape.

I would tend to doubt that. Doesn’t it seem more likely that he just put his foot in his mouth?

But the overwhelming negative outcry forced him to delete the tweet and make his apologies to the internet at large.

A Dr. Phil spokesperson told BuzzFeed that “This tweet was intended to evoke discussion… not intended to be taken lightly. It’s based upon a recent news story, hence the #teensaccused label.”

Maybe so. But even with the tacky tweet gone, its memory remained. People couldn’t resist firing a few more grenades in Dr. Phil’s direction.

If a fake therapist is a complete dickhole, is it okay to berate him on social media? Reply y/n to @DrPhil #teensaccused

— Waka Flocka Shame. (@FETA_WORLDPEACE) August 21, 2013

If a social media intern tweets a dumbass question about rape, is it okay to fire them? Yes or no. #teensaccused

— El Pisser (@ThePisser) August 20, 2013

RT @DrPhil: If a social media intern is drunk, is it OK to fire them? Reply yes or no to @DrPhil #teensaccused

— Derek (@hurrrdurrr) August 20, 2013

The public vote is fairly unanimous. Viewers would like Dr. Phil to think before he tweets.

[Dr. Phil photo by Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com]