Television personality Dr. Phil McGraw has landed in hot water following a controversial Tweet that was sent out to spark a discussion with viewers. Dr. Phil asked his Twitter followers “If a girl is drunk, is it OK to have sex with her?”

"This tweet was intended to evoke discussion leading into a very serious show topic,” a spokesperson for the Dr. Phil Show told Buzzfeed. “It was not intended to be taken lightly. It's based upon a recent news story, hence the #teensaccused label."

Although the post was quickly deleted, it received a great deal of attention and has even sparked a petition on Change.org. The initiative was started by Carmen Rios, an outspoken sexual assault activist, in hopes of an episode that deals with assault prevention, the Huffington Post reported.

“As a former college sexual assault activist who taught about rape and consent and friend to many survivors, I am shocked and appalled by this question,” Rios explains. “One in four women in the United States will be raped in their lifetime. Lesson 101 in my courses was that sexual contact without verbal, sober, conscious consent is rape. And yet, this respected television doctor is questioning whether sex with a person who is incapacitated is rape at all.”

Dr. Phil Controversial Tweet
Questionable post on Twitter by T.V. host Dr. Phil sparks outrage. Change.org

Here are just some of the Twitter followers voicing their opinion over the celebrity psychologist’s momentary lapse in judgment: