J.K. Rowling and John Oliver are making headlines following a public exchange of opinions on the topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports. Known for their influence in the entertainment world, they have sparked controversy with their differing views on the issue. While Oliver took a stand in favor of trans inclusion, Rowling voiced her strong disagreement.
Here’s a closer look at the beef between J.K. Rowling and John Oliver.
What happened to J.K. Rowling and John Oliver?
J.K. Rowling has criticized comedian John Oliver in a post on X (formerly Twitter) for his recent remarks supporting transgender athletes’ inclusion in women’s sports. On Last Week Tonight, Oliver argued there is no evidence that trans women athletes have an unfair advantage over cisgender women.
He suggested that the concerns about fairness and safety were exaggerated. However, Rowling responded sharply, accusing Oliver of falling prey to “motivated reasoning and confirmation bias” (via X, formerly Twitter)
In the post, Rowling expressed disappointment over Oliver’s comments. She accused him of distorting the facts to fit his preferred narrative and called his argument “absolute bullsh*t.” To support her viewpoint, Rowling referenced a United Nations report. It claimed that “nearly 900 medals” were lost by female athletes to transgender competitors. She also brought attention to an incident involving high school athlete Payton McNabb, who was allegedly injured in a volleyball game against a trans player.
Rowling also criticized Oliver for minimizing the impact of trans inclusion on women’s sports. The Harry Potter author said, “If you want to tell the world you’re happy to watch females suffer injury, humiliation and the loss of sporting opportunities to bolster an elitist post-modern ideology embraced by a minute fraction of the world’s population, fair enough; you’re allowed your opinion.” She dismissed his approach as dismissive of the struggles that cisgender female athletes face. Rowling said, “But if you’ve just told girls they don’t deserve fair sport, maybe rethink using all too real and common se*ual predation against young women as a punchline for your ‘edgy’ closing joke.”