On Aug. 20, one of Dr. Phil McGraw’s staff published this tweet:
“If a girl is drunk, is it ok to have sex with her? Reply yes or no to @drphil #teensaccused” McGraw, who was born in Vinita and attended the University of Tulsa, deleted the tweet almost immediately, but the damage had already been done. Outraged Twitter users created the hashtag #DrPhilQuestions and let their anger be known.
Most of the tweets pointed out the stupidity of the question:
“If the baby just won’t stop crying, is it ok to shake it until it stops? #drphilquestions,” tweeted Manny Velazquez, @emannyv.
“If
you say, ‘Drop by anytime,’ and I break in while you’re not home, no
problem, right? #DrPhilQuestions,” quipped Sofia Quintero,
@sofiaquintero.
But some were aimed at the “doctor” himself:
“If
a man is an idiot, is OK for him to have a TV show? Reply yes or no to
@drphil #drphilquestions,” said Peter Rogers, @rowdyman.
On Aug. 21, Dr. Phil’s staff issued a statement explaining the tweet and apologized for its seemingly flippant content.
“This
was a research post in preparation for a show, not a personal post and
Dr. Phil deleted it the second he saw it. It was clearly ill-advised. We
sincerely apologize that it suggested anything other than what was
intended, data gathering.”
We here at CFN expect more from a TV doctor and his staff, and you should too.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 3, 2013.