Dr. Jordan Peterson tearfully responded to comments filmmaker Olivia Wilde made about him being an "insane man."
Wilde recently told Interview Magazine that a character from her latest film "Don't Worry Darling" was based on Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist.
"We based that character on this insane man, Jordan Peterson, who is this pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community," she told the outlet, adding that incels are "disenfranchised, mostly white men who believe they are entitled to sex from women."
"This guy Jordan Peterson is someone that legitimizes certain aspects of [the incel] movement because he's a former professor, he's an author, he wears a suit, so they feel like this is a real philosophy that should be taken seriously," she said.
Peterson addressed the remarks during an episode of Piers Morgan's "Uncensored."
"This insane man, this pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community, incel being these weirdo loner men who are despicable in many ways. Is that you? Are you the intellectual hero to these people?" Morgan asked.
"Sure, why not. People have been after me for a long time because I have been speaking to young men. What a terrible thing to do," Peterson replied, breaking down in tears.
"I thought the marginalized were supposed to have a voice," he said.
"God, you know. It's very difficult to understand how demoralized people are, and certainly many young men are in that category," Peterson continued.
"And you get these casual insults, these 'incels' – what does it mean?" he said.
"It's like these men, they don't know how to make themselves attractive to women – who are very picky and good for them.
"Women, like, be picky. That's your gift, man. Demand high standards from your man. Fair enough. But all these men who are alienated, they're lonesome and they don't know what to do and everyone piles abuse on them."
When asked whether Wilde's comments "stung," Peterson replied, "Oh, by that time, as far as critique goes, that was kind of low level."
"I mean, once I got painted as 'Red Skull', you know, a magical super Nazi, that was kind of the end of the insults," he continued.
"There's no place past that. So, when Olivia Wilde made those comments, the first thing I did was go look at the preview for a movie, which I quite liked. I thought, 'I would go see that movie, probably.' And perhaps I will. It didn't really bother me."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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