Controversial Canadian professor Jordan Peterson has labelled a now infamous New Zealand interview with an activist opposing his views "more painful" than other highly ridiculed videos of people questioning him.
On Wednesday, Auckland Peace Action activist Iris Krzyzosiak was interviewed by Magic Talk's afternoon host Sean Plunket on a statement the group released criticising his views as threatening "everything of value in society".
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A video of the interview has now gone viral, with many criticising Ms Krzyzosiak for her inability to provide examples to back up claims the group were providing to oppose Prof Peterson's views ahead of his tour of New Zealand next week.
On several occasions Ms Krzyzosiak didn't answer Plunket's questions, and once murmured "oh dear lord" as she tried to respond.
On Friday evening, Prof Peterson tweeted the "catastrophic" interview was "more painful" than other notable debates and interviews by journalists attempting to discuss his views.
"Arguably more painful than either the relatively recent GQ interview with Helen Lewis or the Channel 4 Cathy Newman debacle," he said.
In January 2018, Prof Peterson was interviewed by Cathy Newman on topics such as the gender pay gap, post-modernism, and the patriarchy.
Response to Ms Newman's performance in the video, which has been viewed more than 14 million times on Youtube, was predominantly negative and it has led to a raft of memes.
Many believed she tried to put words in Prof Peterson's mouth by frequently saying "so you are saying" and making large leaps of logic about his views.
In one well-known point in the interview, Ms Newman freezes up as she tries to construct a question, to which Prof Peterson says "ha gotcha".
"You have got me, you have got me, I am trying to work that through in my head," she said.
The New York Times' David Brooks said Ms Newman had "distorted, simplified and restated [Prof Peterson's] views to make them appear offensive and cartoonish."
"It is the most devastatingly one-sided media confrontation you will ever see."
Ms Newman later admitted in an interview with The Guardian it wasn't her "finest interview", but blasted some of the feedback as intense and ugly and said she received death threats following it.
"I've thought of coming off social media because why should I have to deal with all this crap?" she said.
Prof Peterson has courted controversy around the world for his views on gender relations and has a cult following, primarily with young men.
However, groups like Auckland Peace Action have claimed he is also racist and homophobic - claims Prof Peterson denies and to which Ms Krzyzosiak was unable to provide any examples in her Wednesday interview.
Newshub.
