Vladimir Putin Says Western Countries Are Trying To Cancel Russia Like Activists Have Tried To Cancel J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter Author Fires Back
Josh Berger
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Vladimir Putin made some fairly controversial comments, comparing the most recent attempts to cancel J.K. Rowling’s to not only Russian artists being cancelled, but to the nation of Russia being cancelled in light of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
Source: People, YouTube
“With the full connivance and sometimes with the full encouragement from the ruling elites the infamous culture of cancellations has turned into cancellation of culture. Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov are being removed from concert programmes. Russian writers and their books are being banned as well,” said the Russian leader during a recent video conference.
Putin continued saying, “Last time such massive company of destruction of unsuitable literature was conducted almost 90 years ago by the Nazis in Germany. We know and remember very well the footage from film archives of books being burned.”
The Russian leader also asserted during the speech, “Not so long ago children’s writer Joanne Rowling, whose books were sold in hundreds of millions around the world was cancelled because she displeased the advocates of so-called gender freedoms.”
‘Today, they are trying to cancel the whole country with a thousand-year history, our people. I am talking about ongoing discrimination of everything to do with Russia, about that tendency, which is developing in a number of Western states with the full connivance and sometimes the full encouragement from the ruling elites,” he stated.
Source: Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Putin’s comparison didn’t sit well with the Harry Potter author, who took to social media to denounce the Russian leader’s comments.
“Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics,” wrote Rowling, including the #IStandWithUkraine hashtag.
In her tweet, the author also shared a report, originally published in October of last year, that brings to light the story of anti-corruption campaigner and Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who in August of 2020 was poisoned and eventually jailed in February of 2021.
Source: J.K. Rowling, Twitter
In a follow-up tweet, Rowling stated that she had been offering her support to Ukrainian children trapped in orphanages and other institutions via Lumos, a charity the author funded in December of 2014.
“An update on the work of my children’s charity @lumos in #Ukraine. Children trapped in orphanages and other institutions are exceptionally vulnerable right now. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has already donated to Lumos’s Ukraine appeal,” wrote Rowling.
Source: J.K. Rowling, Twitter
In yet another subsequent post to her social media, Rowling reminded her followers that she “will personally match all donations to our emergency appeal, up to £1m. If you’re able to, you can donate here. Again, thank you so very much to all who’ve already donated.”
Source: J.K. Rowling, Twitter
RELATED: Comedian Jon Stewart Accuses J.K. Rowling Of Promoting Anti-Semitism In The Harry Potter Franchise
J.K. Rowling has been targeted by transgender activists on countless occasions over the past few years. The most recent controversy surrounding the Harry Potter creator was sparked after Rowling expressed her opinion on biological men self-identifying as women.
Earlier in March the author shared the testimony of Susan Dalgety, a writer for The Scotsman who was sexually assaulted at the age of 11, as a response to Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government Shona Robison’s claim that there was no evidence sexual predators “have ever had to pretend to be anything else” regarding the Scottish Parliament’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
Source: Oprah Winfrey Network, YouTube
“The most searing, heartfelt and courageous response yet to [Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government Shona Robison]’s astounding claim in the Scottish parliament that there is no evidence sexual predators ‘have ever had to pretend to be anything else’.
“Susan, as a fellow survivor, I salute you,” Rowling wrote.
Source: J.K. Rowling, Twitter
Responding to Rowling’s tweet, user @angijones wrote, “There is self ID in my city (Melbourne, Australia) Men are self identifying in to female sexual assault recovery services.”
She went on, “Say no and they take you to the Human Rights Tribunal. Women self exclude. Groups implode. No more services for our most vulnerable women.”
Agreeing with the comment, Rowling asserted, “Exactly this. The law [First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon]’s trying to pass in Scotland will harm the most vulnerable women in society: those seeking help after male violence/rape and incarcerated women.”
“Statistics show that imprisoned women are already far more likely to have been previously abused,” Rowling elaborated.
Source: J.K. Rowling, Twitter
Prior to the latest controversy sparked by transgender activists, Rowling was accused of promoting anti-Semitism in the Harry Potter books by comedian Jon Stewart, who claimed in his podcast that Gringotts Bank goblins were based on caricatures found in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
“Let me show you this. It’s from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I just want to show a caricature, and they’re like, ‘Oh, look at that. That’s from Harry Potter, and you’re like ‘No. That’s a caricature of a Jew from an anti-Semitic piece of literature,’” said the comedian in an episode of his eponymously-named podcast.
He further declared, “J.K. Rowling was like, ‘Can we get these guys to run our bank?’ And you’re like, ‘This is…it’s a wizarding world. It’s a world where it’s like. The train station has a half thing and no one can see it. And we can ride dragons and you’ve got a pet owl. Who should run the bank? Jews.’”
What do you make of J.K. Rowling’s comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin comparing the Eurasian country’s current situation to her own experience with cancel culture? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below or on social media.
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