After Being Accused Of Being “A Holocaust Denier,” J.K. Rowling Legally Threatened A Twitter User
Please note the following story contains discussion of the Holocaust and anti-trans bias.
J.K. Rowling has threatened legal action against an X user who accused her of being “a Holocaust denier.”
On March 13, Rowling shared a screenshot of a post seemingly directed at her that read, “The Nazis burnt books on trans healthcare and research, why are you so desperate to uphold their ideology around gender?”
It’s likely that the initial post was referring to when the library from the Institute of Sexology was burned by the Nazis in May 1933 as part of one of the most famous book burnings in history. The Institute, which was forced to close by the Nazis, was renowned for its work on transgender people and has been thought of as the first transgender clinic.
In response to the screenshot's claim, Rowling herself then added, “I just… how? How did you type this out and press send without thinking ‘I should maybe check my source for this, because it might’ve been a fever dream’?”
I just… how? How did you type this out and press send without thinking ‘I should maybe check my source for this, because it might’ve been a fever dream’? pic.twitter.com/fl9QLuFytc
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 13, 2024
Another user then responded to Rowling saying, “You're engaging in Holocaust denial Joanne,” along with links to sources from the Smithsonian and the US Holocaust Museum, both of which describe how transgender people were persecuted under the Nazis.
“Neither of your articles support the contention that trans people were the first victims of the Nazis or that all research on trans healthcare was burned in 1930s Germany. You are engaging in lying, Alejandra,” Rowling replied, even though the initial user did not make either of those claims.
Amid the controversy stemming from Rowling’s words, Jewish journalist Rivkah Brown tweeted saying that Rowling “is a Holocaust denier.” Rowling then quote-tweeted the now-deleted post, writing, “This, from @rivkahbrown, a journalist who wrote a tweet celebrating the Hamas attack of October 7th and was forced to apologise for it, is staggering. I'd be delighted to meet you in court, Rivkah, to discuss holocaust denial.”
When one user then replied to Rowling’s post saying that transgender people were not “targeted for extermination based on their being trans,” Rowling responded, “There is no tragedy where they didn’t suffer more than anyone else, no issue in which they don’t centre themselves. Language, history, other people’s oppression: all must be reconfigured around them.”
While some transgender women were persecuted by the Nazis under their laws on gay men, trans people were sent to concentration camps.
On April 15, Brown then posted on X, “On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling ‘is a Holocaust denier.’ That allegation was false and offensive. I have deleted it and apologise to JK Rowling.”
On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling “is a Holocaust denier”. That allegation was false and offensive. I have deleted it and apologise to JK Rowling.
— Rivkah Brown (@rivkahbrown) April 15, 2024
A source familiar with the incident told BuzzFeed that Rowling’s lawyers contacted Brown after her post had been deleted and requested that she further publicly apologize. The source further alleged that the lawyers required Brown to change her initial phrasing of the apology to omit that Brown’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors. The source cited Rowling’s wealth as a reason why the matter was not further pursued from Brown’s side.
Following Brown’s apology, “JK Rowling is a Holocaust” began to trend on X.
A representative for J.K. Rowling declined to comment for this story.
