Harry Potter fansites distance themselves from JK Rowling

As far as I can see JKR has no leverage to shut them down, they are not infringing any of her copyrights or trademarks. If you write books, you can't stop people discussing them.

Honestly given how much of a pain in the arse the Harry Potter (spit) fandom is, she’s probably glad to be shot of them. She’s writing crime fiction aimed at adults now and the Strike fans are probably much less deluded.

How very hypocritically exploitative if them.
Laughable, really.

JKR has far more integrity, and that is literally priceless.

Ultimately the legacy of her work will last longer than any of these people. They'll end up having to get proper jobs, or falling pregnant, or meet someone who thinks it's silly to care so much about an imaginary world, and it'll fade away.
Perhaps they'll even end up buying the hated books again, once the fuss dies down, and reading them in secret like some sort of dangerous contraband. It'll probably be the most exciting thing they do all year.

Reading through the replies on the fan sites statements on twitter and so far the overwhelming majority are sticking up for JK. Feels like the tide has turned a lot since three weeks ago which gives me hope.

Good for Matt Lewis, I don’t really know or care what his views are but at least he and Tom Felton haven’t thrown her under the bus!

It's insane. I am so impressed she's rising above. I wouldn't be able to!

"Lawyers! Close them down! Close them all down, I say!!" Cue hag-like cackle.

She's a far better woman than I.

On a vaguely related note, the most recent chapter of Harry Potter at home is read by Matthew Lewis and Imelda Staunton (and an actress from Melbourne's Cursed Child). So glad to see Matt Lewis doing it. At least one of the child actors has a backbone.

Also, he turned out to be the hottest. In your face, Dan & Rupert.

This news was one of the first things I saw online today and it's made me sad and cross all day. The way some news providers have gleefully reported it, ugh.
I just hope JKR is OK, and supported. It's this purity thing again I suppose. Where oh where will it all end?

It would be satisfying to see her shut them down but she won’t because she’s too nice, despite what they may think of her.

JKR won't close them down, but I might if it were me.

Or she could announce that she's so upset by the fan sites that she's never going to write again. The people running them wouldn't probably be lynched by other fans

Is it bad that I laughed throughout most of that article?

I read what she wrote sadly my woke 20 year old did not she is giving up her Harry Potter t-shirt and night shirt blankets and bed spread I pointed out to her if she actually read it she would see she wasn't writing anti trans vitriol at all

She said well I unfollowed her ages ago because her characters didn't hold up to examination and her work is full of plot holes I said I'm looking forward to the house you buy me when you get rich writing all your plot hole less stories

From Melissa from Leaky Cauldron’a Wikipedia page, after the ‘harmonians’ debacle

‘Anelli later commented that the irate fans had "lost the ability to divorce themselves between what J.K. Rowling is doing and what they'd like to see happen, and they've taken their disappointment and projected it onto her. I can totally understand how you could be upset if your preference didn't happen, but I can't understand or tolerate that people who claim to be her fans can be so mean to her."[13]’

These people need to grow the fuck up and stop hiding in fantasy land.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Same as the people who started attacking Baroness Nicholson because she is a long time friend of Jo and co founder of charities. Most completely unaware of the women and children she has helped during her life.

There are a lot of people who make fan art. Emily’s Comics does a stick cartoon called my life as a background slithering. Her whole career is off the back of Harry Potter and she denounced JKR but still wants to publish a book of her cartoons.

The reddit Harry Potter and JKR groups have banned you from saying anything positive about JKR. A new group was set up called r/JoanneRowling and that was banned too.

I have been a Harry Potter fan since I was a child so I always knew that the fandom was batshit but this is nuts.

I love her. I wish people would just fucking read what she wrote. It was just so well written and quite frankly, decent.

I imagine JK (and her lawyers) are laughing all the way to the bank.

Similar coverage in Russia Today

Online schism divides Harry Potter lovers after fan sites distance themselves from ‘transphobic’ J.K. Rowling
www.rt.com/news/493662-rowling-harry-potter-fans-trans/

In other words, overgrown children through security blanket out the window.

I think they were probably teenagers themselves at that time and maybe in their early/mid thirties now?

I remember that with the ‘harmonians’ I was a teenage potterhead at the time. The ironic thing is I remember their ire being discussed with the founders of these sites in an exclusive interview she gave them at her own house! She went out of her way to be generous to those people and sent a lot of people to those two particular sites by publicly endorsing them.

What really upsets me, is that no-one has yet called out all the horrendous abuse she got. I would love, in an ideal world, for all those twitter & facebook users who promised to attack her, to be tracked and prosecuted for inciting hatred and violence, for that is what they have done.

Female politicians get this abuse regularly, and it is unacceptable. It is about time women are given protection from men (all men).

The sad thing is that the people who run these sites have studied the Harry Potter books in great detail, but don't appear to have been able to read anything that JKR actually wrote on this issue

Yep, there’s such a strong moral code through the whole series. Do what is right not what is easy. Almost prescient.

I don't think she should close fan sites down, even if it was possible to do so. It would just inspire more hate.

What I think she should do instead is freeze them out. Give exclusive content to any fan site brave enough to stand with her, or do giveaways. It would be really lovely if she sent signed books to fans who write to her in support or something.

Jo Rowling isn't a petty person. She's not mean-spirited and I hate to see this becoming the public perception of her. The only way to fight it is to rise above it, imo.

The Ickabog is one of the loveliest, funniest books for younger children I've read in a while. A little bit Road Dahl, a little bit fairy tale, a little bit Animal Farm. I hope it does well when it's eventually released, especially with the proceeds set to go to those affected by coronavirus.

It's been wonderful to see Jo interacting with all the kids who drew illustrations for the book on Twitter. She uses each of their names and invariably picks out one particular thing to praise about the picture, to give her response the personal touch. I can't imagine how thrilled the kids must be to hear from her. It warms my heart, it really does.

I find all this totally bizarre. If these people are old enough to run a website then why are they still so fixated on children's books?