‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling appears to have successfully used the legal baton to force an apology from a critic who labeled her ‘Nazi’.
JK Rowling has faced backlash from former fans for her views and statements about transgender people and biological gender. Rowling first made headlines in June 2020 after sharing a series of tweets about her thoughts on the term sex.
“If sex isn’t real, there is no same-sex attraction. If sex is not real, the lived reality of women worldwide will be erased,” she tweeted at the time. “I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex robs many of their ability to meaningfully talk about their lives. It’s not hate to tell the truth.”
This triggered an avalanche of criticism and abuse against Rowling.
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Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said her new book has nothing to do with her real life after facing backlash over her comments on gender identity. (Mike Marsland via Getty Images/File)
In December 2022, Rowling responded to one of her critics: “The thing about the Lawyers’ Game is that anyone can play, JJ. I ignored your ‘hyperbolic metaphor’ about burning me in 2020, but I’m starting to think that was a mistake. What is your lawyer’s position on this Nazi accusation? Would he advise you to defend him in court?”
A Twitter user named JJ Welles posted a now-deleted tweet that said Rowling was “a Nazi, or at least has views consistent with them.”
Rowling responded with a threat of legal action in December: “Okey dokey, JJ, we’ll play it your way. Say hello to your attorney for me!”
On Monday, two months after the Nazi allegation, Welles issued a retraction.
“I would like to publicly apologize for a previous Twitter thread in which I interacted with JK Rowling on matters related to the transgender community. I have now removed those tweets and would like to apologize directly to JK Rowling for causing potential uproar,” he wrote.
In a later tweet, he added, “I would also like to retract my comparisons of JK Rowling to any far right or Nazi organization and emphasize that I do not wish anyone, including JK Rowling, to come to any harm.”
Shown is the original dust jacket design for JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. (Pathik Oza / O3 books)
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“JK Rowling is on an absolute crack and is suing Twitter Wokeys who say she is a Nazi. UK defamation laws are robust, they now apologize beautifully and submissively,” commenter Maxwell Meyer reacted to the news. “Something tells me JJ didn’t expect to be dominated by a woman in 2023. Well done @jk_rowling.”
Preston Byrne, a researcher at the Adam Smith Institute, tweeted a joke about the situation: “Loads of cash generated by millennials buying boys’ wizarding novels and watching movies is now being used in huge amounts to sue those same millennials about… to threaten defamation. The cycle of life.”
BuzzFeed has lumped Harry Potter author JK Rowling with “big baddies” like cult leader Jim Jones, notorious traitor Benedict Arnold, and even OJ Simpson for her stance on transgenderism. (Evan Agostini / Invision / AP / File)
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Rowling will be releasing a podcast series called The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, which is set to premiere on February 21. On the podcast, Rowling talks “about the controversies surrounding her — from book bans to debates about gender and sex. “