TWIBS: JK Rowling Will See You in Court
For how much Rowling and her Gender Critical ghoulies say they just want to “call a spade a spade,” they sure do get angry if you point out that she’s a Holocaust denier!
by Alyssa Steinsiek
If I wanted people to stop talking about something, my gut instinct would not be to threaten litigation. I think most people would know not to do that, because there’s a whole psychosocial phenomenon about this named after Barbra Streisand. Ms. Streisand famously tried to sue her way out of having her palatial Malibu estate identified in a photograph… and, unsurprisingly, wound up drawing far more attention to the photograph than it would ever have received otherwise.
And yet!
On Monday, Jewish UK journalist Rivkah Brown tweeted out a very public apology to beloved friend of the transgender community, Robert Galbraith, also known by her pen name JK Rowling, or Her Majesty Joanne Rowling, Most Honourable and Right, CH OBE FRSL.
That’s right, British babies, I know how your antiquated social system works.
Rivkah Brown’s tweet about Jo—which, to be clear, was a factual assertion that the famous author’s denial of certain aspects of the Holocaust constituted Holocaust denial—was met swiftly by the threat of punitive litigation from a fucking billionaire. I won’t pretend to be an authority on the matter, but where I come from, silencing another woman by abusing the vast gulf of amassed excesses of wealth between the two of you isn’t exactly righteous feminism.
But go off, Joanne.
Brown told Forward via email correspondence that Rowling’s lawyers instructed her to delete the tweet and issue a public apology or face their wrath. Brown, of course, doesn’t have the sort of limitless money Rowling was gifted for being a talentless hack who can barely craft a functional narrative, whose book published under a new pseudonym languished in obscurity until somebody let slip she was its author. So Brown acquiesced.
The purpose of Rivkah Brown’s tweeted apology was immediately clear to anybody familiar with the UK’s draconian libel and defamation laws, under which the burden of proof is placed upon the defendant, not the plaintiff. If Rowling sued Brown, it would be Brown’s responsibility to prove that Rowling had engaged in Holocaust denial. I’m sure you can see how anybody with more money than decency could abuse that sort of system to censor their opponents and, as is the case between Rowling and Brown, publicly compel their speech. Never mind that Rowling’s tweet about Brown claiming she “[celebrated] the Hamas attack of October 7th” is itself blatantly libelous. Rivkah simply couldn’t take on a vitriolic behemoth like Rowling in court.
Rules for thee, but not for me!
My most dedicated TWIBSies may recall that I wrote about Jo’s Holocaust denial last month, and that I explained in great detail how the Nazis targeted transgender people during the Holocaust. I even cited some authoritative sources in the process, like a good li’l journo. The truth in Rivkah’s now deleted tweet, and Rowling’s own history of intense and aggressive transphobia, is unquestionable.
Simply put: J.K. Rowling is a Holocaust denying transphobic bully.
Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14597 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0
As an American journalist, I am mercifully safe from Jo’s SLAPP happy bullshit. Thanks, Obama. But, for fear of public backlash, I’m going to cover my bases and ensure my beloved Assigned Media and boss, powerful cisgender man, Olympic triathlete and scourge of the seven seas Evan Urquhart, are not unfairly targeted over my willful truthiness.
I’m takin’ one for the team, folks.
On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling “has a powerful stench.” That allegation was false and offensive, because many farmers find the odor of manure quite pleasant, actually. I have deleted it and apologize to JK Rowling.
On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling “looks a bit clocky for a transphobe.” That allegation was false and offensive, but I can’t tweet about it because using the word cis gets you flagged for hate speech now. I have deleted it and apologize to JK Rowling.
On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling “is a terrible writer, worse than some fifth graders I’ve met.” That allegation was false and offensive, because her books were written at a sixth grade reading level. I have deleted it and apologize to JK Rowling.
On 13 March I tweeted that JK Rowling “will be remembered as a hateful bigot, leaving behind a legacy of intolerance and evil.”
Sorry, that one was true, actually, and I won’t be deleting it.
Alyssa Steinsiek is a professional writer and video games nerd who cohosts a podcast about trans news!
