Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier Addresses Her Support for Jordan Peterson

"Following my tweet, I started seeing more clearly the cracks in his reasoning"

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Aug 7, 2018

After a tweet in support of controversial academic and author Jordan Peterson recently made the rounds online, Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier has clarified her remarks and distanced herself from Peterson's rhetoric in a new statement.

In February of this year, the Stereolab vocalist tweeted at Peterson that she was "so gutted by the treatment The Guardian — and some of the well to do media — has given you this week. You have all my support and many thanks for your clarity and — oh too rare — courage to speak the truth!" The tweet came as a shock to listeners familiar with Stereolab's politically-charged lyrics. Peterson has become recognized as a right-wing figurehead for touting "enforced monogamy" as a solution to male violence, refusing to acknowledge gender-neutral pronouns and boasting about the purported health benefits of eating "beef, salt and water. That's it."

Regarding her tweet, Sadier wrote in a statement through her website that "The Guardian published a review of his book earlier this year but shortly after printed another article, one that attacked him personally...I objected to the way he, rather than his ideas, was demonised. My tweet was about his right to hold his ideas rather than support for them per se."

Sadier continued: "Following my tweet, I started seeing more clearly the cracks in his reasoning: his systematic assault on what he calls neo Marxism, his hang up on social justice warriors, his narrow biological determinism around gender issues were perturbing to say the least."

She concluded, "The fact that he would never acknowledge the malignant impact of colonialism or neo liberalism was evidence that his is a one-sided argument. It just took me a little longer than some of you to fully realise this. I didn't make that public. I should have done and I am sorry for that."

Read Sadier's full statement below.

Friends,

When I came across Jordan Peterson, I was initially interested by his arguments about Nietzsche, Jung and Dostoevsky.

The Guardian published a review of his book earlier this year but shortly after printed another article, one that attacked him personally. However questionable I think his arguments are now, I objected to the way he, rather than his ideas, was demonised. My tweet was about his right to hold his ideas rather than support for them per se.

Following my tweet, I started seeing more clearly the cracks in his reasoning: his systematic assault on what he calls neo Marxism, his hang up on social justice warriors, his narrow biological determinism around gender issues were perturbing to say the least. And the fact that he would never acknowledge the malignant impact of colonialism or neo liberalism was evidence that his is a one-sided argument. It just took me a little longer than some of you to fully realise this. I didn't make that public. I should have done and I am sorry for that.

La Resistance!

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