J.K. Rowling, the creator of the incredibly popular Harry Potter franchise, is facing a police interrogation for alleged transphobic remarks.
In a recent interview with Byline TV, United Kingdom broadcaster and TV personality India Willoughby revealed that she had filed a police complaint against J.K. Rowling after the author repeatedly misgendered her. Willoughby is widely credited as being the first transgender TV news reporter in the UK and has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and Loose Women.
EXCLUSIVE 🚨🚨🚨@IndiaWilloughby has called the police and reported @jk_rowling for an alleged hate crime for misgendering her.
This could lead to Rowling’s arrest. pic.twitter.com/iJMDmDeMaO
— Byline TV (@BylineTV) March 6, 2024
In recent days, she has repeatedly come into public conflict with the Harry Potter writer, whose vocal opinions on transgender individuals and rights have become a huge part of her public image. While J.K. Rowling remains one of the most popular authors in the world, her public statements and near-constant social media posts about trans people have arguably eclipsed her other work.
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India Willougby stated that “J.K. Rowling’s definitely committed a crime. I’m legally a woman, she knows I’m a woman, and she calls me a man. It’s a protected characteristic, and that is a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act.”
In the United Kingdom, Crown Prosecution Services has stated that individuals can potentially be charged with a hate crime due to “hostility” to a transgender person. Willoughby continued, saying, “I have reported J.K. Rowling to the police for what she said, which I don’t know if that’s gonna be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications. But it’s a cut and dried offence, as far as I’m concerned.”
At this point, it appears that Northumbria police will question J.K. Rowling regarding the complaint and very well may be charged with a hate crime. There is no announced timeline of how the legal action will proceed, but the Harry Potter author is already striking back against India Willoughby via her favorite medium, Twitter.
In a five-part series of posts, J.K. Rowling implied that she was actually the one being targeted, saying, “[L]awyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India’s obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment.”
Some time ago, lawyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India's obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment. 1/5 https://t.co/kMSMBWO7gm
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 6, 2024
Later in the posts, J.K. Rowling also accused Willoughby of “homophobia, racism, and [a] humane stance on immigration” as well as “shocking transphobia.” The author also referenced that the “Forstater ruling established that gender critical views can be protected in law as a philosophical belief.”
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The Forstater ruling, for reference, is a notable employment and discrimination case in the United Kingdom which eventually, on appeal, ruled that gender-critical beliefs can (but not universally) be protected under the Equality Act 2010. Notably, J.K. Rowling did not reference the part of Forstater that states that “this judgment does not mean that those with gender-critical beliefs can ‘misgender’ trans persons with impunity. The Claimant, like everyone else, will continue to be subject to the prohibitions on discrimination and harassment that apply to everyone.”
We will continue to update this article as new events occur in the legal action and potential lawsuit against J.K. Rowling.
Inside the Magic reached out to Northumbria Police for comment, but has not heard back by the time of publishing.
What do you think of this police complaint against the Harry Potter writer? Give us your opinions in the comments below.