J.K. Rowling has received death threats after her Twitter comments about the attack on British author Salman Rushdie.
On August 12, Rushdie was brutally stabbed while giving a lecture about creative expression at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.
The author is alive and recovering, but suffering from life-altering injuries including stab wounds to his neck and stomach, and severe puncture wounds to his right eye. Rushdie has long been under threat due to the sensitive nature of his writing — an Iranian fatwā even called for his execution in 1989.
The controversial Harry Potter novelist tweeted her support for Rushdie following the attack.
“Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be OK.”
A Twitter user replied to Rowling with a rather daunting, “Don’t worry you are next.”
Warner Bros. Discovery released a statement in support of Rowling on Sunday.
“Warner Bros. Discovery strongly condemns the threats made against J.K. Rowling,” the statement read. “We stand with her and all the authors, storytellers and creators who bravely express their creativity and opinions. WBD believes in freedom of expression, peaceful discourse and supporting those who offer their views in the public arena. Our thoughts are with Sir Salman Rushdie and his family following the senseless act of violence in New York. The company strongly condemns any form of threat, violence or intimidation when opinions, beliefs and thoughts might differ.”
Rowling tweeted Twitter’s own guideline, “You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people.” She then addressed Twitter directly, “Any chance of some support?”
The author is no stranger to receiving Internet hate — her transphobic comments have gotten her into trouble several times.
She’s been accused of being a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) because of tweets like, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
In 2017, Rowling liked an article on Twitter that called transgender women “men in dresses.”
Rowling only made things worse when she responded to the initial backlash in 2020: “I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”
Needless to say, the novelist has gained a lot more haters since making her offensive opinions about trans people public.
