Penguin Random House staffers ‘broke down in tears’ over release of Jordan Peterson book

Staff at a publishing house reportedly broke down in tears after it was announced their company would be publishing a new book by controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Fox News

2 min read

November 26, 2020 - 11:30AM

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Staff at a publishing house have reportedly been in tears over news that their company was set to publish the latest book by divisive Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Employees at Penguin Random House Canada (PRHC) are now putting pressure on the publisher to cancel the release of his third book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life, reports Vice.

According to the outlet, “several” employees confronted management at an internal town hall on Monday and “dozens more have filed anonymous complaints” about PRHC’s plans to release the latest work from the controversial academic.

“He is an icon of hate speech and transphobia and the fact that he’s an icon of white supremacy, regardless of the content of his book, I’m not proud to work for a company that publishes him,” one town hall attendee told Vice.

Another employee said: “People were crying in the meeting about how Jordan Peterson has affected their lives.” One staffer said Dr Peterson had “radicalised their father” and another insisted the publishing of Dr Peterson’s book will “negatively affect their non-binary friend”.

Controversial clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

“The company since June has been doing all these anti-racist and allyship things and then publishing Dr Peterson’s book completely goes against this. It just makes all of their previous efforts seem completely performative,” the employee told Vice.

Dr Peterson is a psychology professor at the University of Toronto and hosts a popular podcast. He announced on Monday that he is releasing the new book, which is set to hit shelves in March next year.

several employees who spoke to me say the publisher was secretive about the release of Peterson's new book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. They found out yesterday and a town hall followed hours later, during which they say mgmt spoke about the need to air diverse views
— ð¦ðšð§ð¢ð¬ð¡ðš ð¤ð«ð¢ð¬ð¡ð§ðšð§ (@ManishaKrishnan) November 24, 2020

they said publisher Anne Collins talked about how Peterson has â€œhelped millions of people who are on the fringes of society who would otherwise be radicalized by alt-right groups" and tried to make the publication of the new book seem positive
— ð¦ðšð§ð¢ð¬ð¡ðš ð¤ð«ð¢ð¬ð¡ð§ðšð§ (@ManishaKrishnan) November 24, 2020

PRHC told Vice in a statement, “We announced yesterday that we will publish Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order this coming March. Immediately following the announcement, we held a forum and provided a space for our employees to express their views and offer feedback.

“Our employees have started an anonymous feedback channel, which we fully support. We are open to hearing our employees’ feedback and answering all of their questions. We remain committed to publishing a range of voices and viewpoints.”

Vice’s report quickly went viral on social media with critics mocking the crying employees, suggesting they should quit or be fired by the publisher for their emotional response to Dr Peterson’s work.

https://t.co/3eIqo7Bh8L pic.twitter.com/GGkBO5SvVy
— Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) November 25, 2020

This is deeply, deeply embarrassing.

How do adults function like this?
They couldn't survive as a conservative in the regular world for 14 1/2 minutes https://t.co/QnRAHBnslQ
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) November 24, 2020