JK Rowling fires ANOTHER shot at Billy Bragg

JK Rowling fires ANOTHER shot at Billy Bragg as she accuses the musician of comparing ‘feminists to Nazi eugenicists’ in ongoing Twitter trans spat

• Billy Bragg praised an interview by TV presenter Graham Norton on Twitter
• JK Rowling responded by saying his praise meant he supported ‘death threats’
• She also suggested Graham Norton was a misogynist, then receiving backlash 
• And accused left-wing singer songwriter of using ‘holocaust to attack feminists’

JK Rowling has continued her war of words with Billy Bragg over transgender rights and today accused him of using ‘the Holocaust to attack feminists’.

The Harry Potter author and the left-wing rabble-rousing singer-songwriter have been fighting on Twitter for the past 24 hours.

It began when Ms Rowling claimed ‘bearded men’, including Mr Bragg and BBC star Graham Norton, are defining what a woman is – rather than leaving it to women themselves. She then said Bragg was ‘throwing [his] support behind rape and death threats’.

Last night he replied: ‘I’m not complaining that you have a view, JK. I’m complaining that you conflate my view with support for rape and death threats. I have never expressed such sentiments and if you had any self respect you would apologise for making such a blatantly inflammatory accusation’.

Today the spat continued and she said: ‘Self respect? From the guy who tried to use the holocaust to attack feminists? Women standing up for their rights receive constant threats of sexual violence. Some have lost jobs and been attacked at protests. Good to know you and Norton are OK with the culture, though’.

She was referring to a tweet sent by Bragg when he visited Hamburg in May.

He said: ‘In the pavements are small brass plaques bearing the names of Jews who lived in the building opposite the plaque who were murdered by the Nazis. That began with people deciding they could define someone by their biology alone’.

Her supporters pointed out that the final line could be construed as Ms Rowling claims, that he was using ‘the holocaust to attack feminists’.

One critic tweeted the author last night: ‘How do you sleep at night knowing you’ve lost a whole audience from buying your books?’ Rowling hit back: ‘I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly.’

JK Rowling and Billy Bragg have been involved in a Twitter trans row sparked by Graham Norton

JK Rowling accused Bragg of using ‘the holocaust to attack feminists’

Ms Rowling was referring to a tweet sent by Bragg when he visited Hamburg in May.

In a response to a critic asking how she slept at night, JK Rowling said her royalty cheques helped

Their Twitter battle started when Bragg, 64, retweeted a video of an interview with Graham Norton at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last weekend, which the musician said was ‘really good’ on cancel culture ‘and JK Rowling’. 

In Mr Norton’s interview, the TV host slammed those who claim to have been ‘cancelled’ yet who still have a large platform, and are seen writing articles or being interviewed about the issue.

He added that ‘cancel culture’ is ‘the wrong word’, and it should instead be replaced with ‘accountability’ for what people say.

The author, 57, then saw the tweet and attacked the singer, saying she was ‘enjoying the recent spate of bearded men stepping confidently onto their soapboxes to define what a woman is and throw their support behind rape and death threats.’

The interviewer questioned Norton on JK Rowling specifically in the light of his comments.

He declined to comment on her stance on transgender issues, but said: ‘When I’m asked about it, I become a part of it.

‘My voice adds nothing to that discussion and I’m sort of embarrassed that I’m somehow drawn into it.

‘If people want to shine a light on those issues then talk to trans people. Talk to the parents of trans kids, talk to doctors, talk to scientists.

‘Talk to someone who can illuminate it in some way.’ 

Sharing the interview to his followers, Mr Bragg said: ‘Norton really good here on John Cleese, telling him that ‘cancel culture’ is just accountability, and JK Rowling, suggesting that the media talk directly to trans teens and their parents rather than merely amplifying the takes of a celebrity.’

But Ms Rowling quickly hit back, writing: ‘Very much enjoying the recent spate of bearded men stepping confidently onto their soapboxes to define what a woman is and throw their support behind rape and death threats to those who dare disagree.

‘You may mock, but takes real bravery to come out as an Old Testament prophet.’

She also appeared to take a thinly veiled swipe at both Mr Norton and Mr Bragg, claiming they were misogynists, as she added in a reply: ‘I like beards. I just don’t like them when they’re attached to misogynists.’

Mr Bragg later replied to her tweet and said: ‘Hard to think of anything that better illustrates Graham Norton’s point than the sight of someone with 13.9m followers reacting to a call for a fair hearing for trans teens and their parents by equating it to *checks notes* support for rape and death threats.’

Her comments about misogyny saw swift backlash on social media, with countless social media users questioning how Mr Norton had displayed any such behaviour in his advocacy for people to discuss transgender issues with experts and those affected. 

JK Rowling has sparked multiple controversies over her views on trans rights in recent years, and says she has received death threats and rape threats from those who disagree with her. 

It comes after another recent high-profile row in which Ms Rowling went to war with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Rowling branded her a ‘destroyer of women’s rights’ – wearing a T-shirt with it as a motif – and today Ms Sturgeon ratcheted up the row by suggesting that the author is not a ‘real feminist’ – and that she is.

The author took the action as she lent her support to campaigners who gathered outside the Scottish parliament to protest against the devolved government’s controversial gender reforms wrapped up in the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

But Ms Sturgeon bit back, saying: ‘Abusive men are a risk to women – that is what we should be focusing on.

‘We shouldn’t be seeking to further stigmatise and discriminate against a tiny, tiny group in society that are already one of the most stigmatised groups in society.

‘There are many, many real threats to women out there right now, from attacks physical attacks, attacks of sexual violence to the removal of abortion and reproductive rights to what women in countries in Iran are going through.

‘The threat to women in our society today is not from trans women, it is from abusive men, from lawmakers who want to take away our rights and that is what we should be focusing on.’

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