Jordan Peterson sparks outrage after declaring Sports Illustrated model ‘not beautiful’

Divisive psychologist Jordan Peterson has sparked outrage after commenting on the appearance of a model who made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

A controversial psychologist and best-selling author has sparked outrage after declaring a Sports Illustrated model “not beautiful”.

Dr Jordan Peterson, 59, took to Twitter to shame plus-size model and musician Yumi Nu after she appeared on the magazine cover.

“Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that,” he wrote to his 2.7 million followers.

The divisive figure’s tweet sparked furious backlash.

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Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that. https://t.co/rOASeeQvee

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) May 16, 2022

Yumi Nu attends the Yumi Nu 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Reveal on May 11, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for SI Swimsuit )

“Sheesh. Big fan here. I find my girlfriend with a body type like this quite beautiful. Dial it back a bit homie,” one man wrote.

“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?,” added another woman.

The model featured on the cover did not seem fussed about the comments made by Dr Peterson - who has made a name for himself by railing against everything from feminism to social justice warriors.

“Hoes mad [nail painting emoji] [calm smile emoji],” she wrote in a quote-retweet of Dr Peterson‘s original tweet.

Dr Peterson has a checkered history in both his private and public life, having developed a dependency on prescription medication and being admitted to rehab following his wife’s cancer diagnosis.

He was thrust into the mainstream after a video of him arguing with students and refusing to refer to them as their chosen gender pronouns went viral online.

He leveraged his newfound fame by injecting himself into the Canadian debate over transgender rights.

His 2018 self-help book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos - which encouraged readers to stand up straight, not bother children skateboarding and avoid petting stray cats - sold more than three million copies worldwide.

Dr Peterson featured on Q&A. Picture: ABC.

Dr Peterson has repeatedly been criticised for his old-fashioned views on women and accused of spreading misinformation.

He drew outrage after appearing to endorse government-forced monogamy, going as far to say it may have helped Canadian man Alek Minassian who killed 11 people in Toronto.

Minassian declared himself to be part of a misogynist group whose members call themselves incels - a term short for “involuntary celibates.”

“He was angry at God because women were rejecting him,” Peterson said. “The cure for that is enforced monogamy. That’s actually why monogamy emerges.”

The academic also spouts the benefits of the carnivore diet – a method of only eating meat that was suggested to him by his daughter when he was unwell.

His daughter has no qualifications in regards to nutrition or dietetics but the family claim it helped Peterson recover from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

Peterson also pushed against Covid-19 vaccines and restrictions in Canada, in one instance claiming the Canadian PM would have to kill him before getting a booster.

Originally published as Jordan Peterson sparks outrage after declaring Sports Illustrated model ‘not beautiful’