The Harry Potter author called out the news outlet for referring to murderer Scarlet Blake, 26, as a woman in a social media post and not making it clear that she is transgender

Harry Potter author and outspoken women’s rights campaigner J.K. Rowling has called out Sky News on X (formerly Twitter) for referring to a transgender murderer as a woman. The UK outlet covered the news that Scarlet Blake, 26, had been sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 murder of Jorge Martin Carreno.

In addition to his death, 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. She targeted and murdered Carreno four months later. In the post on social media, Sky News referred to Blake as a woman but went on to describe her as transgender in the news article itself.

It read: “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.” Rowling, who has been embroiled in controversy over her stance on transgender issues in the past, reshared the tweet, and slammed the outlet, writing: “I’m so sick of this sh*t, This is not a woman. These are #NotOurCrimes.”

In response, a social media user replied to her comment, writing: “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 58-year-old stood her ground about the matter, replying: “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.”

Rowling also reshared a post journalist Louise Tickle had written to The Guardian after it appeared to not initially note that Blake is transgender in its coverage. She wrote, “Every single word of this.” This detail is now in The Guardian’s article.
Scarlett Blake, 26, filmed herself torturing and killing a cat before murdering a man ( Image: PA)

It’s not the first time Rowling’s views have been the subject of controversy, with many in the LBGTQ+ community boycotting the Harry Potter franchise. The writer has rejected claims that she’s transphobic, and continues to stand by her views that compare transgender women to potential threats to women and criticizes inclusive terms like “people who menstruate” as undermining women “as a political and biological class.”

When Rowling’s social media comments about trans issues became public, many Harry Potter actors distanced themselves from her, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Ralph Fiennes is one of the few stars from the series who have defended her.