‘I’m So Sick Of This’

On Monday, the Harry Potter author — who has been embroiled in controversy over her stance on transgender issues in recent years — called out Sky News on X (formerly Twitter) after the UK outlet referred to a convicted murderer as a “woman,” and didn’t make it clear that she’s transgender. (The British news outlet did not refer to the convicted killer, Scarlet Blake, as trans in the social media post, but described her as transgender in the news article itself.)

Sky News reported that 26-year-old Scarlet Blake was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 murder of Jorge Martin Carreno. Blake live-streamed the brutal torture and killing of a cat after she watched the Netflix documentary, Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, before targeting and murdering Carreno four months later.

“BREAKING: A woman who filmed herself killing a cat before putting the animal in a blender has been jailed for life for murdering a man four months later,” Sky News’ X post read alongside the link to its story.

Rowling reshared Sky News’ tweet, and criticized the outlet. “I’m so sick of this shit,” she wrote. “This is not a woman. These are #NotOurCrimes.”

The 58-year-old went on to respond to a social media user who criticized her comment.

“What a weird thing to complain about. As if there aren’t plenty of cis women that have committed horrible crimes. What does it matter how the person identifies?” the person wrote, to which Rowling replied, “1. Crime statistics are rendered useless if violent and sexual attacks committed by men are recorded as female crimes. 2. Activists are already clamouring for this sadistic killer to be incarcerated in a women’s prison. 3. Ideologically-driven misinformation is not journalism.”

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenwriter also reshared a post from journalist Louise Tickle, who is a contributor for The Guardian, and sent a lengthy letter to the outlet after it seemingly didn’t initially note Blake is transgender in its coverage. (The Guardian’s article, when we recently checked, does have that detail now.)

Alongside Tickle’s post, Rowling wrote, “Every single word of this.”

Despite her beloved Harry Potter series, Rowling has become a controversial figure for her statements on trans issues that date as far back as December 2019.

Her comments have made her a problematic figure within the very fandom she created for her continuing comments about transgender women, which have led some to label her a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist, a term for feminists who exclude transgender women from their advocacy).

The author has denied she’s transphobic, but repeatedly doubles down on her assertions equating transgender women to potential predators of women and bashing inclusive phrases like “people who menstruate” as eroding women “as a political and biological class.”

Meanwhile, when Rowling’s social media behavior surrounding trans issues came to light, many Harry Potter stars distanced themselves from her, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Ralph Fiennes is one of the few stars from the franchise who have spoken out in her defense.