Earlier this week, Right-wing conservative author Jordan Peterson renounced Twitter after the serious pushback he received for insisting Sports Illustrated's first plus-sized Asian American model, Yumi Nu, was "not beautiful."
But his exit from the social platform was made all the more satisfying when Nu responded on TikTok.
For those who may have missed the Twitter drama, Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue for 2022 was released, featuring Nu looking confident in a one-piece black swimsuit.
Not only did Peterson respond to the cover reveal, he went out of his way to retweet the cover and comment:
"Sorry. Not beautiful. And no amount of authoritarian tolerance is going to change that."
The backsplash was swift and extensive, and Peterson felt the need to leave the platform, and announce it over multiple tweets.
"The endless flood of vicious insult is really not something that can be experienced anywhere else."
"I like to follow the people I know, but I think the incentive structure of the platform makes it intrinsically and dangerously insane."
"So I told my staff to change my password, to keep me from temptation, and am departing once again."
"If I have something to say, I'll write an article or make a video. If the issue is not important enough to justify that, then perhaps it would be best to just let it go."
When Nu discovered she would be the cover model for the swimsuit issue, she stated in an interview that she was left "shaking." She had gone onto location, expecting only to complete a photo shoot in a variety of swimsuits.
But during that shoot, it was announced that one of her poses would be captured on the cover of the magazine, and Nu was nothing short of floored and grateful.
Peterson's response was a classic example of someone trying to bring someone down during the height of their accomplishment, but Nu's fans weren't having it, and fortunately, neither was Yumi Nu.
To respond, Nu turned to TikTok to respond, where she used Peterson's tweet as a backdrop.
She used Nicki Minaj's popular song, "Itty Bitty Piggy," and lip-synced the lyrics as her response:
"I mean, I don't even know why you girls bother at this point, like,"
Then she points up at Peterson's tweet, lip-syncing:
"Give it up. It's me. I win."
Finally, while holding up a copy of the latest Sports Illustrated, she lip-syncs:
"You lose. Ha-ha-ha-ha."
You can watch the response video here:
Unlike Peterson, TikTok was hugely supportive of Nu.
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It's heartwarming to see so many people rush forward to celebrate Nu's beauty and accomplishments, even if Peterson wasn't ready to celebrate alongside them.
Unfortunately, this is far from the first time Peterson has demonstrated problematic behavior on Twitter.
Just the day before insulting Nu, Peterson posted an ableist tweet about neurodivergence, stating:
"Everything makes everyone special."
Some people simply are not ready to be more accepting of their fellow humans, how they express themselves, and their needs. Maybe Twitter will welcome Peterson back when he's ready to grow.
