The Free Press Investigates: The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

Episode 5: The Tweets (March 14, 2023)

Overview

This episode delves into the genesis, content, and fallout of J.K. Rowling’s pivotal tweets about sex, gender, and women’s rights. It explores the origins of her social media statements, the profound backlash from the public, fans, and colleagues, and contextualizes the wider, turbulent cultural climate of late 2019 and 2020. Through in-depth interviews, candid audio from Rowling, and testimony from figures embroiled in similar controversies, the episode investigates the intersection of free speech, personal conviction, cancel culture, and the emotional toll of internet outrage.

Key Discussion Points

1. J.K. Rowling’s Entry Into the Gender Debate

(00:42–03:38)

• Rowling describes her internal debate before going public, aware that criticism was inevitable:

  "I absolutely knew that if I spoke out, many people who would love my books would be deeply unhappy with me...I knew it would be easier not to, you know, that this could be really bad. And honestly, it has been bad...I have been scared at times for my own safety and overwhelmingly for my family's safety." (00:42)

• The trigger: Maya Forstater’s employment tribunal after she tweeted that "sex is real," and her contract wasn't renewed (03:33).

2. The Maya Forstater Case & Its Implications

(03:38–06:50)

• Philosophy professor Kathleen Stock and the host detail the case: Forstater’s gender-critical beliefs (“biological sex is unchangeable”) were ruled unworthy of protection under UK law.
• Stock’s response:

  "This was shocking to me...Secondly, it made a big material difference to any other woman who...went online to express reasonable worries about a policy that says any man can legally become a woman just by saying that he is." (06:57)

• Stock issues a call to academics in her blog:

  "The whole point of a university is to contest groupthink or received wisdom...academics should have the central role in the culture of testing received wisdom and introducing controversial ideas..." (08:09)

3. Rowling Publishes Her First Tweet

(09:25–10:47)

• Rowling’s "I stand with Maya" tweet:

  "Dress however you please, call yourself whatever you like, sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you...But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? I stand with Maya. This is not a drill." (03:02, 10:45)

• She braced for backlash, consulting her management before posting:

  "I knew it was going to cause a massive storm...I was considerate enough to phone my management team and say: 'You cannot argue me out of this.'" (09:48)

4. The Immediate Backlash

(10:52–14:25)

• Rowling faced an avalanche of criticism—especially from Harry Potter fans and LGBT groups:
  • "You are so disappointing, Terf. Be gone, Terf." (10:56)
  • "Pretty sure Hitler and Nazis had the same view as you…" (11:25)
• Former supporters, including the original Harry Potter fan site, turn away:

  "We want every single Potter fan out there to know that the Mugglenet community stands with you. We see you, we hear you, we support you." (13:36)

• Rowling reflects:

  "Yeah, there was absolutely fury and incomprehension...But I have to tell you, a ton of Potter fans were still with me, and in fact, a ton of Potter fans were grateful that I'd said what I said." (14:20, 14:48)

5. Supporters and the Split Among Fans

(15:10–16:37)

• The tweet also received significant support, though often privately:

  "The number of likes for this tweet will never convey to you how much it mattered..." (15:24)

• Kathleen Stock:

  "At the time, it felt like there was just a bunch of relatively insignificant women...howling into the void...getting no traction...which we were not." (16:15)

• Rowling on fan reactions:

  "I'm constantly told I don't understand my own books. My position is that I am absolutely upholding the positions I took in Potter." (16:37)

6. Further Fallout and the COVID-era Context

(17:41–22:32)

• Touches on global turbulence: political polarization, COVID, George Floyd protests, and the amplification of social media outrage.
• Cancel culture escalates:

  "We have what we call cancel culture. Man. If you do something wrong, you're supposed to be out of here...When the Twitter mob wants to cancel somebody, they’re basically saying that a person has done something harmful." (25:05)

7. The “People Who Menstruate” Tweet

(25:43–29:55)

• Rowling, frustrated by "degendered" language in an article, tweets:

  "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wombun? Wimpen?..." (27:58)

• The response is explosive, more hostile than before:
  • "Nope. Men have periods. Stop hating trans people, you awful weirdo."
  • Celebrities and journalists pile on: "J.K. Rowling had ruined her legacy." "Harry Potter and the audacity of this bitch." (28:40)

8. Attempts to Engage, and Intensified Hostility

(30:04–35:41)

• Rowling tries to clarify:

  “If sex isn't real, there's no same sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased...It isn't hate to speak the truth..." (30:11)

• This only increases vitriol, including graphic sexual threats, doxxing, and online harassment—moving into real-world threats:

  "It's the scale. Even though I knew it was coming...but that's like knowing you're about to be punched...You really need to take the punch to know how much it hurts." (35:11)

9. Rowling’s Essay & Ongoing Fallout

(36:04–43:12)

• Rowling publishes an essay outlining her motivations, including personal trauma and concerns about women-only spaces.

  "If you could come inside my head and understand what I feel when I read about a trans woman dying at the hands of a violent man, you'd find solidarity and kinship...like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who've been abused by men. So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe." (39:41)

• The essay did little to quell critics:
  “Let the joyous news be spread, the wicked old witch at last is dead.” (42:42)
  • Book burnings, boycotts, schools dropping her name, tattoos removed, Quidditch renamed.

10. Effects on Other Women & Academics

(43:47–49:08)

• Other women, less famous than Rowling, endured severe consequences for similar beliefs: job loss, harassment, and threats.
• Kathleen Stock’s experience:

  "After that, I was advised to stay at home and teach from home. Ultimately...Stock felt forced to resign." (48:38) "You do feel alternating between feeling like you're going crazy, anger, total defeat...that they want you to feel because to just suddenly have all fingers pointing at you...you have to keep going back to what you actually wrote..." (49:08)

11. Accountability vs. Cancellation

(50:13–51:30)

• Rowling counters the notion that this is just “accountability”:

  "If you are threatening to remove livelihoods, if you are saying, this person is cancelled, that is the language of a dictator...If you want to debate with me, I am absolutely open to that...But I notice a remarkable Disinclination to engage on the ideas. The response is, well, we can't listen to you. You are evil. You must not be listened to. That, to me, is intellectually incredibly cowardly. I don't believe that any righteous movement behaves in such a way." (50:17)

12. The Broader Implications

(51:30–54:39)

• The episode notes increasing societal polarization, with anyone dissenting from the prevailing narrative at risk of moral condemnation.
• Rowling argues for preserving discourse and pluralism:

  "I am not going to cut that person out of my life because we disagree on something, albeit something that is very important to me. We have lost that in this particular debate." (52:22)

  • She draws parallels between the dynamics of her opponents and the villains in her books:

  "The Death Eaters claimed...any who stand in our way must be destroyed...They demonized and dehumanized those who were not like them...I am fighting what I see as a powerful, insidious, misogynistic movement..." (53:22)

13. The Last Word: The Hurt All Around

(54:39–end)

• The episode closes with reminders from trans fans that threats do not represent their side and that they still hope Rowling could try to see the hurt felt by their community:

  "I just kind of hope she could try to see why so many trans people are angry and hurt by this...like, why we might feel hurt and betrayed by her sort of contributing to, like, fear about us." (54:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• J.K. Rowling

  "I believe absolutely that there is something dangerous about this movement and it must be challenged." (01:26) "I'm constantly told that I have betrayed my own books. My position is that I am absolutely upholding the positions that I took in Potter." (16:37) "I do watch this movement behaving towards women in ways that I think are absolutely abhorrent." (33:35)

• Kathleen Stock

  "The whole point of a university is to contest groupthink or received wisdom...academics should have the central role in the culture of testing received wisdom..." (08:09)

• Narrator

  "For many onlookers...she is highlighting a breakdown in the fabric of a pluralistic society." (51:30)

• Anonymous Trans Fan

  "I just kind of hope she could try to see why so many trans people are angry and hurt by this...leaving her own position of feeling hurt and threatened..." (54:39)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Opening and setup: 00:42–03:38
• Forstater case breakdown: 03:38–06:50
• Rowling’s tweet and rationale: 09:25–10:47
• Public reaction and split among fans: 10:52–16:37
• COVID, protests, and cancel culture context: 17:41–25:43
• “People who menstruate” tweet and fallout: 25:43–29:55
• Rowling’s attempts to clarify & intensifying backlash: 30:04–35:41
• Rowling’s essay and continued backlash: 36:04–43:12
• Repercussions for other women/academics: 43:47–49:08
• Accountability vs. cancellation discussion: 50:13–51:30
• Broader implications and Rowling’s defense: 51:30–54:39
• Closing fan perspective: 54:39–end

Tone and Language

The episode’s tone is analytical, empathetic, and sometimes raw—reflecting both the pain and conviction of those embroiled in the controversy. Quotes are used verbatim, revealing the emotional intensity and the stakes for all involved. The language alternates between dispassionate reportage and the impassioned rhetoric of activists, critics, supporters, and Rowling herself.

Summary

Episode 5: The Tweets explores how a single tweet by a global literary icon ignited a culture war, exposing painful fractures over gender, speech, and the limits of disagreement. Through Rowling’s narration, the stories of other embattled women, and the anger of both supporters and critics, the episode paints a complex portrait of contemporary internet dynamics, the volatility of mass movements, and the personal fallout for those who dare to speak their minds against the tide.