JK Rowling has brushed off continued backlash from Harry Potter fans (Picture: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
JK Rowling has insisted she doesn’t care about losing fans once she takes a look at her royalty cheques.
The Harry Potter author- who has denied she is transphobic – has been widely condemned for her comments on gender identity over the years with many fans questioning her stance on the trans community.
She first attracted a fierce backlash in 2020 after criticising an article which referred to ‘people who menstruate’ and tweeting: ‘”People who menstruate”. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’
Fans continued to criticise her following a series of tweets which saw her defend her belief in biological sex, and some Harry Potter stars – including leading trio Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – spoke out in support of the trans community.
On Thursday, a fan asked Rowling on Twitter: ‘How do you sleep at night knowing you’ve lost a whole audience from buying your books’?
The writer simply replied: ‘I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly.’
JK Rowling said her ‘royalty cheques’ make the ‘pain’ go away (Picture: Twitter/jk_rowling)
Her comments come after Harry Potter actor Tom Felton – who played Draco Malfoy in all eight big screen adaptations of her books – swerved a question about her views on the trans community and instead praised the impact of her novels.
‘To be honest with you, I’m a little bit out of the loop with the specifics but I’m constantly reminded and so lucky that Potter has brought together so many walks of life,’ he said on BBC Breakfast.
‘Every country I’ve been to, everyone knows Potter so I’m quick to remind myself, and others, that she was the reason that continues to bring so many people together which is a wonderful thing.’
Tom Felton has avoided wading in on the row (Picture: BBC)
Felton previously echoed a similar sentiment about Rowling, saying he doesn’t ‘tend to pick sides.’
Speaking to The Times’ T2 magazine, the actor said: ‘I couldn’t speak for what others have said or what she said, to be completely honest, but I’m often reminded, attending Comic Cons in particular, that no-one has single-handedly done more for bringing joy to so many different generations and walks of life.
‘I’m constantly reminded of her positive work in that field and as a person. I’ve only had a handful of meetings with her but she has always been lovely. So I’m very grateful for that.’
Meanwhile, last week Rowling was embroiled in a row with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after a gender recognition legislation was passed by the Scottish Government.
Rowling spoke out against Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform bill with a T-shirt branding Nicola Sturgeon a ‘destroyer of women’s rights’ (Picture: @jkrowling, Twitter)
Nicola Sturgeon responded to JK Rowling’s t-shirt with a comment about ‘real feminists’ (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The majority of MSPs on the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee recommended the approval of the general principles of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which allows an easier process for transgender people to be legally recognised as their preferred gender.
Rowling was seen wearing a t-shirt declaring the SNP leader ‘a destroyer of women’s rights’, and Sturgeon later hit back.
She said: ‘There are no shortages of attacks on women that feminists, real feminists, as I consider myself to be, should be focusing on right now.’
Rowling had voiced her support for members of For Women Scotland (FWS) – who hosted a rally outside Holyrood after the Scottish government’s recommendation – in a caption alongside the controversial T-shirt as she tweeted: ‘I stand in solidarity with @forwomenscot and all women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament. #NoToSelfID.’
Sturgeon was asked directly about the t-shirt, and told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: ‘Abusive men are a risk to women – that is what we should be focusing on.’
She added: ‘The threat to women in our society today is not from trans women, it is from abusive men, from lawmakers who want to take away our rights and that is what we should be focusing on.’
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The Harry Potter author has shrugged off her critics.