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Author JK Rowling recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to respond to a user who claimed to have burned her book and toasted marshmallows on the fire.

Rowling has been receiving widespread criticism for some of her controversial views regarding women, gender, and the transgender community since 2020. The author had published a lengthy article detailing her opinions about gender and s*x, advocating in favor of biological s*x.

On September 25, 2024, the Harry Potter author shared a screenshot on X, which included a comment someone presumably wrote to her online. She hid the user’s ID and display name. The post said:

“You are a stupid and horrible woman. My kids and I enjoyed burning your books and roasting marshmallows over your pathetic books.”

Sharing the screenshot, Rowling responded to the user and wrote:

“I get the same royalties whether you read them or burn them. Enjoy your marshmallows!”

Fans took to X to react to JK Rowling’s response, with many mocking the original user for burning the books. One X user poked fun at the title of the final book in the Harry Potter series and wrote:

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Mallows”

A fan pointed out that book burners are typically seen as villains in history, while another said that a phoenix rises from the ashes every time a Harry Potter book is burned.

“Aren’t book burners the bad guys in pretty much every history book ever?,” another fan added.

“🔥 Every time someone burns a Harry Potter book, a phoenix rises from the ashes,” a fan quipped.

“Imagine encouraging your kids to do something like that. 🤷‍♂️,” a netizen opined.

Fans continued to criticize the original user for supposedly burning Rowling’s books.

“My goal one day is to have the lack of f*cks that J.K. has for her haters,” a user shared.

“Weird how the left has become the party of book burnings,” an individual commented.

“You know you’re on the right side of history when the book-burners hate you 😅,” another person chimed in.

Some of the other fan reactions are as follows:

“They didn’t hate your books until you told them that you believe in reality lmao,” an X user mentioned.

“Those kids will buy them again once they realize they were robbed of the most beautiful collective childhood memory,” a person noted.

JK Rowling is best known for writing the popular Harry Potter series, which consists of seven novels. The author has been involved in multiple controversies over the last few years due to her controversial take on transpeople alongside fans having issues with some of the aspects of her books.

JK Rowling’s controversial comments about the transgender community explained

JK Rowling’s controversial comments regarding the transgender community date back to 2020, leading to widespread backlash over the years.

In June 2020, the author reposted an op-ed piece that spoke about menstruation, opposing the use of the term “people who menstruate.” Rowling believed the word “women” should be used instead, a statement that offended the transgender community.

“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?,” Rowling wrote.

Her tweet led to backlash online, but JK Rowling stuck to her stance. She further elaborated on her views and added:

“If s*x isn’t real, there’s no same-s*x attraction. If s*x isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”

She continued:

“The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women—i.e., to male violence—‘hate’ trans people because they think s*x is real and has lived consequences—is a nonsense.”

Soon after, Rowling published a lengthy piece on her blog discussing her views. She also tweeted “TERF Wars” while sharing her piece with her followers. The term stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. JK Rowling has continued to maintain her views about the transgender community since then and explained her thoughts on various occasions online.

Actors from the Harry Potter film series disagreed with JK Rowling in solidarity with the trans community

Shortly after JK Rowling shared her views online in 2020, multiple actors from Warner Bros’ Harry Potter film series disagreed with her publicly, sharing their solidarity with the trans community. Daniel Radcliffe, best known for playing Harry Potter in the film series, released a statement via The Trevor Project, supposedly disagreeing with JK Rowling

“It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm,” Radcliffe said.

Emma Watson, known for portraying Hermione Granger in the series, also supported the trans community. In a series of posts on X, Watson wrote:

“Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are. I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you, and love you for who you are.”

Other actors from the Harry Potter franchise, including Rupert Grint (who played Ronald Weasley) and Bonnie Wright (who played Ginny Weasley), also shared their thoughts supporting the trans community after JK Rowling’s essay. Warner Bros also shared a statement about the same.