Listen, I know we’re all sick and tired of talking about the wizard book lady, but unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that J.K. Rowling has found another avenue to keep spewing her toxic messaging—The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling—and we need to talk about it.
Rowling will be launching a new podcast, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, on February 21. It will be hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church who parted ways with the hate-fueled organization years ago, and is being brought to us by The Free Press, an independent media company founded by Bari Weiss, a former op-ed writer for the New York Times who fights against “woke culture and liberal censorship”—and the transgender community, of course, while the NYT comes under fire for platforming people like her.
The podcast has been described by The Free Press as an “audio documentary that examines some of the most contentious conflicts of our time through the life and career of the world’s most successful author.” Sure, okay. But, if the name of the podcast alone has your eyes rolling into the back of your head, then strap in, because it somehow gets worse!
During the trailer for the podcast, Rowling expresses deep disappointment that we all somehow misunderstood her many, many shitty takes on transgender people, saying, “What has interested me in recent years, particularly on social media [is when fans say], ‘You’ve ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.’ And I think: ‘You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.’” Rowling then goes on to explain that she “never set out to upset anyone” but she also “was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.” Now, I could just call this project what it is: a self-serving wank fest where one of the richest people in the world gets to play the victim after doing so much damage to a marginalized community, but I think it’s important to break down why this is truly one of the worst things we could do for someone like Rowling.
The podcast only serves to help expand her ever-growing reach
With over 14 million twitter followers and billions of dollars from book sales, merchandizing, royalties, and more, Rowling doesn’t need another way to continue her crusade against the rights of trans people. She has spent the last three years crowning herself as the leader of an army of TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists). While she may have started this journey into bigotry by saying trans people can “wear whatever they want” and “be called by any name they choose,” Rowling has seemingly thrown any shred of empathy towards trans people out the window and has now cultivated a movement towards eliminating them from Earth.
Whether she’s lying about trans-related medical care; cozying up to people who are anti-abortion, anti-gay, and love doxing trans people; or mocking trans people on International Women’s Day, Rowling absolutely does not need another megaphone to shove into our ears and screech about how much she hates trans people.
She’s not a victim; she’s a bully
Rowling loves to make it seem like people, specifically trans activists and their allies, are out to get her. We all remember when she cried foul when a group of activists posted a photo of themselves outside of her house—sorry, castle. However, her address was already publicly listed online, so they weren’t “doxing” her. But, that didn’t stop Rowling from pointing to this incident and saying, “See, everyone, I’m just living my life, telling the truth, and they won’t leave me be!”
I can only imagine that her explaining that she wasn’t uncomfortable with getting off her pedestal will be another way for her to whine about how people with four followers on Twitter are mean to her when she says ignorant things. Rowling didn’t have to get off her pedestal to take a stand against an oppressive power structure; she took a swan dive off of it because she would rather be remembered as a villain than a hero. Honestly, it’s a very Cassie-from-Euphoria move, if I’ve ever seen one.
J.K. Rowling is not “misunderstood.” She’s not being clipped out of context or being edited to look like something she’s not. She’s an entitled bigot with an ego being fueled by other hateful individuals who want to see trans people washed away from our past, present, and future. Her podcast will be a success because people like her love to champion themselves as the oppressed when they’re the ones sitting on gilded thrones. That’s why I think I speak for the majority of people when I say please, PLEASE stop giving this woman more platforms. I think she’s done quite enough.
(featured image: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
