Dr. Phil’s tweet remains a hot topic discussion on both social media and in the headlines. Now, the controversial tweet has received so much attention it prompted one person to create a petition on Change.org.
Phil tweeted and deleted, “If a girl is drunk, is it OK to have sex with her? Reply yes or no to @drphil #teensaccused."
The tweet sparked outrage from many users who related the post to asking if rape was okay.
Carmen Rios created the petition which demands, “Dr. Phil (@DrPhil): Sex Without Consent Is Never OK! Apologize for “Sex With Drunk Girls” Tweet.” The petition has received 1,522 signatures thus far and is asking for an additional 478.
“Even though he took the tweet down, of course Dr. Phil should admit his error in judgment and apologize," Rios writes. ” He needs to go a step further. 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."
New York Daily News notes that it is unclear if a PR team, an intern or if Dr. Phil himself handles theTwitter account.
Following the tweet’s backlash, a rep for the on television doctor released a statement claiming the tweet was simply “a research post in preparation for a show, not a personal post.”
The statement continues, “We sincerely apologize that it suggested anything other than what was intended, data gathering. As you can imagine, Dr. Phil is very upset that this happened.”
Image: CBS