Furious New York Times readers blast ad 'cancelling' JK Rowling amid transphobia row

19 February 2022, 11:19

Some people have cancelled their subscription to the New York Times after an advert readers said tried to 'cancel' JK Rowling
Some people have cancelled their subscription to the New York Times after an advert readers said tried to 'cancel' JK Rowling. Picture: Alamy

By Daisy Stephens

Furious readers of the New York Times (NYT) have criticised the paper for an advert suggesting JK Rowling should be erased from the Harry Potter franchise, with some cancelling their subscriptions as a result.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The advert, which shows a woman looking into the distance with the caption "Lianna is Imagining Harry Potter Without Its Creator", has been displayed on electronic boards in a metro station in Washington D.C., according to the Mail Online.

Images of the advert were shared on social media, prompting critics to hit out at the board for 'cancelling' the author and showing a lack of respect to women.

"So I cancelled my @nytimes sub because it tried to cancel @jk_rowling," wrote author Susan Dalgety on Twitter.

"Even the offer of a year’s sub for $0.25 a week couldn’t persuade me to stay with a newspaper that is so contemptuous of women that it celebrates cancelling a female author in its ads."

Another wrote: "Imagining taking a creation away from a woman.

"Imagine taking an invention away from a woman.

"Imagine taking an idea away from a woman.

"Or thoughts away from a woman. Or words.

"The ability to define herself.

"Imagine taking away rights from women."

They ended their post with the hashtag 'NYTimesHatesWomen'.

Read more: School dumps JK Rowling name over trans views and replaces her with Dame Kelly Holmes

Read more: Quidditch could have name changed in JK Rowling trans row

Others have made the comparison to articles posted by the newspaper, with one Twitter user writing: "Now that @nytimes has decreed that @jk_rowling should be divorced from Harry Potter I’m assuming it won’t mind me divorcing its journalists from their articles?

"Y’know, now that intellectual property rights mean f*** all to them?"

"J. K. Rowling is standing up for women to be called 'women'."

The NYT has also been accused of "endorsing" the threatening communications the Harry Potter author has received as a result of her views.

"Dear @nytimes, why are you endorsing and amplifying the terrifying and unhinged murderous threats against JK Rowling by the mentally deranged?" Wrote author Mandy Stadtmiller.

"@jk_rowling is a [domestic violence] survivor who has sustained years of these sick threats which you are now complicit in. This is sick and inexcusable."

Watch: James O'Brien grills caller who attempts to defend JK Rowling's trans comments

Read more: 'Delete it': JK Rowling hits back after trans activists post photo of her home and address

JK Rowling has been embroiled in a row about her views on trans people for over a year.

In 2020 she tweeted criticising an article for avoiding using the word "women", and instead opting for "people who menstruate", causing people to label her transphobic.

Since then she has defended her views, raising concerns about "the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning", and branding it "misogynistic" to deny "the importance of [biological] sex".

"I want trans women to be safe," she wrote, explaining her opposition to allowing "any man who believes or feels he's a woman" into female changing rooms and bathrooms.

"At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe."

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Flooding And Heavy Rain In Valencia Region Of Spain

What we have seen in Spain these last days is a preview of the future if we do not take action on climate change

Palma is on lockdown amid warnings of heavy rain

Majorca on lockdown as tourist hotspot faces flooding horror after storm kills more than 200

Emergency and rescue personnel work at the site where a concrete outdoor roof of a train station collapsed in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad

Train station canopy collapses in Serbia, killing 8 people in horror accident, with more victims still trapped in rubble

Two people look out over an area affected by floods in Chiva, Spain

More than 200 confirmed dead in 'devastating' flash floods as red rain alert issued for Spanish region

Jose 28

Tributes pour in for former Valencia footballer, 28, killed in Spanish flash floods - as up to 400 feared dead

At least two people have died and six injured when a gunman opened fire on Halloween party-goers in Orlando

Two dead and six injured as gunman opens fire in Halloween horror shooting in Orlando

Desperate hunt for survivors as Spanish death toll passes 158 with mobs and looters striking shops across Valencia

Desperate hunt for survivors as mobs and looters strike shops across Valencia after 'apocalyptic' floods

The suspect is escorted by police officers to a park for video reconstruction of a crime scene

British businessman charged with murder in Hong Kong after housekeeper found drowned under waterfall

Shocking aerial footage shows extent of flood damage in Spain, with at least 95 confirmed dead so far

Shocking aerial footage shows extent of flood damage in Spain, as bridge seen being wiped out by raging torrent

Thom Yorke Performs In Auckland

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke walks off stage after being heckled by pro-Palestine protester in audience

Emma Lovell and her husband Lee confronted two teenagers at their home in Brisbane

Australian teenager cleared of murdering British woman who confronted intruders during home break-in

Pedestrians stand next to piled up cars following deadly floods in Sedavi, south of Valencia

Spanish government declares three days of mourning after 95 die and dozens missing in flash floods

News broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test

North Korea claims to have tested new intercontinental ballistic missile

Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue

Lebanon's caretaker PM says Israel Hezbollah ceasefire could be 'hours' away

The fine came following complaints by 17 Russian TV channels after their accounts on YouTube were blocked

Russian court fines Google more money than the world's GDP

Several people have died in Spain after floods

British man among dead after Spain hit by flash flooding - as cars swept away and rescuers scour waters for bodies