JK Rowling speaks out about death threats over transgender comments
'Media Buzz' host Howard Kurtz discusses the controversy over the Harry Potter author's remarks about transgender people on 'The Story.'
J.K. Rowling appeared on "The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling," a podcast owned by Bari Weiss's "The Free Press," to discuss allegations made against her that she is prejudiced against people who identify as transgender.
On the podcast, Rowling scoffed at the idea that she should be concerned that her stances on social issues will taint her legacy.
"I never set out to upset anyone," the author of the bestselling "Harry Potter" series said.
"However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal," Rowling continued. "What has interested me over the last ten years, and certainly in the last few years, last two/three years, particularly on social media, ‘you’ve ruined your legacy. Oh you could have been beloved forever but you choose to say this.' And I think you could not have misunderstood me more profoundly."
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JK Rowling (Getty Images)
"I do not walk around my house thinking about my legacy. You know? What a pompous way to live your life, walking around thinking ‘what will my legacy be?’ Whatever. I'll be dead. I care about now," she said.
"I care about the living," she added.
Rowling has faced longstanding criticism from transgender activists for her stance in defense of biological women. Last week, after the New York Times published an op-ed by columnist Pamela Paul, progressives slammed the Times and argued they "should be ashamed for publishing this piece."
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Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling. (Dia Dipasupil)
Rowling has long refused to waver in her stance.
"It isn't hate to speak the truth," she tweeted in 2020.
In Paul's Times piece, the author pointed out many of Rowling's statements in defense of transgender people: "Trans people need and deserve protection," "I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them," along with other remarks.
People hold signs during a joint board meeting of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine gather to establish new guidelines limiting gender-affirming care in Florida, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Rowling is celebrated by many for her rags-to-riches story. She wrote the first Harry Potter book while on government welfare. Rowling is among the more liberal figures, such as Joe Rogan and Glenn Greenwald, who the Left has turned on for - in their view - not being progressive enough.