Author J.K. Rowling has fallen silent on her usually busy X (formerly Twitter) feed, after Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint in France for alleged cyber harassment over statements regarding her gender.
On August 9, lawyers for Khelif filed a lawsuit with a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office in Paris, stemming from false statements that spread online about her gender after the Algerian boxer defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in her first fight of the 2024 Olympic Games. Carini pulled out 46 seconds into the bout and told reporters afterwards that she had “never felt a punch like this.”
I think of JK Rowling the same way as Orson Scott Card. They have opinions that differ from mine, but I still like their work. Am I missing something? I get that Rowling’s opinions suck, but I don’t really understand the extent people go in the disdain for her. She’s allowed to have opinions on things we don’t agree with. She’s not out there stabbing babies.
She’s not out there stabbing babies
Rowling is using her considerable clout to drum up hatred of trans people. She might not be wielding the bat, but she helps embolden those who do. It’s essentially stochastic terrorism. To my knowledge, Card has not gone nearly as far off the deep end in this respect.
She’s gone hard into terf land and is spreading hate and disinfo about trans people
“I don’t agree with the nazis, but they are allowed to have opinions that we don’t agree with, I don’t understand the hate”
Yeah, no problem with that logic. Wanting a minority to die/not exist is just an opinion not worth disdain, that’s all, right?
The bigotry is on the same level, but I think JK Rowling is actively militant on a far different level compared to Orson Scott Card. Just looking at their twitter for example, OSC tweets maybe once a month and 9/10 times it’s about a book signing or other such promotion. JK Rowling’s feed is a constant flow of hatred on trans people. She tries very hard to make sure you are reminded of her bigotry every single time you hear anything about her.
The reach is different too. OSC has some 16k followers. Rowling has 15 million. It’s natural for her to attract a much higher degree of disdain.
This is it right here. I am a trans person and I actually like both the enderverse and harry potter and I’m not a fan of either author. But I can say I like the enderverse without any shame or self loathing because Card doesn’t appear to speak about his shitty views unless directly asked.
Now with Joanne on the other hand… Well, fuck her and her IP and everything else she might ever do. She is a billionaire and like Musk just can’t be happy with that and shut the fuck up. I get it you foul bitch, you hate me and that I exist, now go buy a fucking yacht and let me struggle to pay rent, buy food, and simply live in peace. All I have ever done to that self righteous cunt is buy her books and yet she feels the need to denigrate me and my existence and espouse hate directed toward me every chance she gets. Just stfu Joanne, you’ve won the game you never have to worry about having your basic needs met ever again. You’ve won. Now go the fuck away.
Basically I can put blinders on and still enjoy the enderverse and shadows, but I can’t do that with Joanne. Harry Potter will never hold the same place in my heart as it once did. I cannot read it anymore without feeling gross and disgusted with myself for enjoying anything this foul human has produced.
To be fair, Ender Wiggin calls his black friend the N word and jokes about owning him as a slave one time. Ender’s Game still somehow manages to be less racist than Harry Potter, but it’s a close race.
Totally agree with you that I’m less ashamed to like the Ender books tho. Every time I try to understand Leibniz I just remember reading the Ender sequels.
Is that the bar for you? Anything less evil than directly and personally stabbing a baby is ok?
Is Rowling even subject to French legal proceedings?
Rich people often have their fingers in a lot of pies, so I wouldn’t be shocked. You know how the saying goes,“Mo’ money (that you’re semi-illicilty hiding internationally to evade domestic taxes), mo’ problems.”
Well at the very least it could block her from going to France? Which as a rich British middle-aged woman I’m sure she would hate not being able to do.
The harassment lawsuit alleges “aggravated cyber-harassment” against Khelif, according to a statement from the boxer’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, who was quoted by The Associated Press. Variety reported that the complaint was filed against X, which means under French law that it was filed against unknown persons. Investigators at the Paris prosecutor’s office will determine who could be at fault in Khelif’s complaint.
If she ends up being found liable in an EU country, I bet she won’t be able to travel to any EU country without facing that liability. X is an international platform, and she’s broadcasting her words internationally, so yes, she can be held accountable in countries where this carries civil or criminal liability.
Also any EU royalty payments could be garnished until her debt from her liability is paid in full.
With the sales numbers of Harry Potter stuff, i doubt there will be a problem of securing the money.
I imagine that her Harry Potter stuff is owned by a corporation. That is probably all separate legally from her.
So her Harry Potter stuff is probably fine as she is getting sued not the Harry Potter corporation.
It will mainly affect her ability to travel around Europe.
She’s also one of the richest women in the world, so she won’t really suffer any major loss unfortunately.
It’s so weird of Rowling to call her a man, considering they have a similar face structure.
I was just noticing that, facial features are very alike
Her post facelift face anyway.
[aliens meme]
projecting
Use of the internet to in any way facilitate the outsourcing of on-site labour overseas is capitalism’s ultimate spatial fix, pass it on.
I hope Mr Rowling gets some prison time.
That seems both unlikely and - to be honest - completely exaggerated and useless.
I did indeed exaggerate
Last year boxer was blocked from competing…
What in the Kentucky fried fuck is the editor doing.
AI editors all the way down.
Fucking destroy her.
Heaven forbid she lose money. Literally the only thing that could make her stop harassing people on the internet.
the only thing
I mean, there are other ways, but…
She has billions. No matter how much she loses she’ll still be obscenely rich.
Maybe they can sue for billions. Gawker got sued out of existence, I hope she gets some good US attorneys and files in a jurisdiction that has unlimited damages. Maybe we can all use the new “K” platform after she owns “X”.
Don’t think the UK has the potential for redicolously high damages that exists in some US states.
Peter Thiel is the reason they were sued out of existence.
Is anyone suing Peter Thiel out of existence?
Yep. Because they outed him. And he couldn’t sue them for that, so he waited around until he found something he could use to sink his teeth into them.
People were cheering when Gawker lost and got shut down because Gawker sucked. Not me. I saw a billionaire using the justice system successfully for a personal vendetta and was horrified.
Oh no, consequences.
Only because she attacked a cis woman. No consequences from the years doing everything in her power to targetedly harass individual trans peolle, the community as a whole or publishing books about trans serial killers.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see her go quite, I hope she stays that way. But I’m bitter it wasn’t a realization that her crusade was mysgonstic hatred, only that she was a zealot who accidently friendly fired.
It’s the start, the lawsuit has more chance to win that way, and can pave a path for trans people to win cyberbullying lawsuits too
This isn’t friendly fire. TERFism is inherently white supremacist and Khelif was targeted for her race.
Don’t forget it’s also inherently misogynistic and attacks cis women all the time anyways.
I just had a great idea. You know how Rowling is always going on in the narration of the HP books about how X bad female character has “mannish hands”? Let’s turn Rowling and her mannish hands into a meme just to fuck with her
I abundetly agree that is correct. But I am doing my best to try to think of her personal viewpoint, in JK’s mind she is defending women from men. Hell, her stupid books are a racist allegory for how evil racism is, but when she gets praised from literaly white supramcists and dictarors, she makes excuses for being the greater good.
It’s only when from her mind, she attacked another woman, that she is finally giving pause. Even if all she has done in actuality for the last several years is outright misogyny. Which is why I am so frustrated, she didn’t wake up to what a monster she has been, just that she needs to be more careful in who she “righteously” attacks.
in JK’s mind she is defending women from men
You could have made this claim once, and it been believable.
Had Rowling made even one…just one comment about the literal child rapist (whose victim was a 12-year-old girl) that competed at this Olympics…you might have been able to keep believing this.
But her absolute silence about an issue where an actual girl was traumatised by the actions of an actual man, and insistence on going to war against a woman who she’s pretending is a man instead, completely removes any semblance of doubt there. Her goal is to delegitimise trans women. That’s not just an instrumental goal, it is the terminal goal: the cruelty is the entire point.
I don’t think Rowling is as capable of change as you do. I think Rowling still sees Khelif 100% as a male man, because she’s black. And I think Rowling is viewing this as the woke lobby taking away all her money and making her live on the street for challenging them. I think this is making Rowling incredibly outraged, and she’s only shut up out of fear. And that’s good. I want Rowling to be angry and scared and powerless. Because I don’t think anything in the world could ever convince her that trans women are women.
I miss trial by combat.
I’m not arguing, but how is TERFism white supremacy?
TERFism restricts feminism to a tightly defined and controlled ingroup. The criteria for determining who is a real woman, when employed by bigots, will inevitably come to describe the socially dominant form of femininity, which is white femininity. Black and Arab women like Khelif will always fail to pass the standards of white femininity, because they’re not white. The standards are racist. And TERFs invariably pick racist standards, because the kind of people who feel the need to police womanhood to appeal to an imagined ideal are people who will end up doing that in more ways than one. And also, TERFs are always hanging out and allying with overly white supremacist groups, because Nazis are the only people who will put up with assholes like Rowling. That’s why she’s always taking photos with fascists.
only that she was a zealot who accidently friendly fired.
Bigotry is illogical, and will always ‘friendly fire’. No one is ever safe. People have transvestigated Joanne Koanne Roanne and Andrew Tate. No one is ever safe.
tbf tho Tate is a little manlet. I am in disbelief that anyone takes their cues on traditional masculinity from him. Guy with a face like that, he should be preaching the virtues of open mindedness and tolerance. If he was, I’d respect his masculinity. But since he demands that men be judged for failing to embody masculinity, I’m happy to treat him as he wishes to be treated and conclude he is a tiny soyboy with a pathetic chin.
It’s about fucking time someone shut her up
Rowling should be in jail for hate crimes. That person need rehabilitation before we can let her back into society.
Unfortunately, the laws don’t apply to billionaires.
good god, she’s still digging
Wheres the evidence she ‘never failed a gender test’ that was the fact that made everyone upset. Jk did nothing hundreds of thousands of other ppl who read the articles about this also said. You gender warriors are nuts, your hate for this woman is hilarious.
Hundreds of people hung people of color from trees without a fair trial. They are still guilty whether or not others did so.
Wheres the evidence she ‘never failed a gender test’ that was the fact that made everyone upset.
Yeah, where’s the proof of this negative?!? /s
Now we just need your proof that your hero JD Vance never fucked a couch.
By “this woman,” do you mean Rowling? Are you sure she’s a woman? Has she taken a gender test?
You mean Robert Galbraith? JK is a little gender fluid anyway.
I get where you’re coming from. But she has popped a crotch goblin out in the past, which is a pretty good indication of womanhood. (Side note: I’m not saying if a woman can’t or won’t have kids they aren’t a woman, because they clearly still are. But if a woman does give birth to a child it’s usually a strong sign of that gender.)
ETA: If this prospective lawsuit can shut Rowling up long-term that would be fantastic. Like many others, I’m tired of her spewing hateful shit out.
I know men who’ve given birth, and women who haven’t, so I’m not sure it means what you think it means…
That’s why I said it’s usually a strong indication.
How do you know she did? Were you at the birth? Have you seen video? How do you know the child wasn’t adopted?
I totally believe Algeria sent a transwomen to the olympics…
For the record: Being trans is highly illegal in Algeria
It’s impossible to prove that someone ‘never failed a gender test’ you can only prove that someone passed or failed a specific test. Maybe if you understood logic and critical thinking a bit better it might help you in your life. I’d recommend learning.
I managed to never see a photo of rowling until now, and she totally looks like my friend’s dad in poorly done drag and probably also on hard drugs.
I’ve started referring to JK as “Jacob Rowling”.
I know that they’re completely unaware of it, but I get some smug satisfaction out of misgendering them.
Look, not to be “that guy” but the importance of using someone’s preferred pronouns doesn’t fly out the window when you don’t like them. That just makes you hypocritical.
Bash them for being a piece of shit all you like, but the moment you’re choosing to misgender them intentionally you’re signaling that pronoun choice only matters when you like the person being referred to.
Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much
Joseph would work better considering her birth name was Joanne.
Joseph Kenneth Rowling.
