Revolt at publisher Hachette re Rowling "transphobia"

[Lamahaha]

Young staff members threatened a strike apparently:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8424029/JK-Rowling-publishers-revolt-Workers-publishing-house-Hachette-threaten-tools.html

My heart sank when I read that headline and the opening paragraphs, since I have professional "connections" to Hachette:

Publishing staff working on JK Rowling’s latest book threatened to down tools yesterday in protest at her views on gender.
...
Yesterday morning at publishing house Hachette, several of those involved in Miss Rowling’s new children’s book, The Ickabog, are said to have staged their own rebellion during a heated meeting. One source said: ‘Staff in the children’s department at Hachette announced they were no longer prepared to work on the book.

‘They said they were opposed to her comments and wanted to show support for the trans lobby. These staff are all very “woke”, mainly in their twenties and early thirties, and apparently it is an issue they feel very strongly about.’

But fortunately the grown-ups held up to the toys-out-of-the-pram tantrum:

Last night Hachette issued a statement backing Miss Rowling’s right to express herself. It said: ‘We are proud to publish JK Rowling’s children’s fairy tale The Ickabog. Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing. We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view.

‘We will never make our employees work on a book whose content they find upsetting for personal reasons, but we draw a distinction between that and refusing to work on a book because they disagree with an author’s views outside their writing, which runs contrary to our belief in free speech.’

I can't say how pleased and proud I am. Well done Hachette.

Yes, well done Hachette 👏🏼

Presumably a staff email to match the press release went round and they all piped down.

Wow, Hachette held the line! I'm impressed.

(I mean, she's a major money-maker for them, I'd guess, so there's some self-interest there.)

Same with Warner Brothers who hold the movie franchise. Wokesters wanted them to issue a stern condemnation of Rowling, but they disappointed bitterly:

www.vulture.com/2020/06/warner-bros-releases-statement-on-jk-rowling-trans-comments.html

“The events in the last several weeks have firmed our resolve as a company to confront difficult societal issues. Warner Bros.’ position on inclusiveness is well established, and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture has never been more important to our company and to our audiences around the world. We deeply value the work of our storytellers who give so much of themselves in sharing their creations with us all. We recognize our responsibility to foster empathy and advocate understanding of all communities and all people, particularly those we work with and those we reach through our content.”
Not the firm condemnation of Rowling and her well-documented transphobia that we were looking for, Warner Bros’.

The arrogance of these kids demanding this and that of multi-million companies is astounding. Do they really think they are THAT important? Apparently yes. It's good to see them hit the brick wall of reality.

Yes, they do think their views are that important. Just see what happened to James Bennet at the the New York Times very recently. These young people have been emboldened and the grown-ups need to stand firm

Well I’m glad the grown ups have stepped up. All this pandering.

Can they really afford to go on strike/mess up their careers in the current job market (where you gets workers are being harder hit?).

This may turn out to be JK Rowling’s biggest gift.

If the publishing industry find a spine and stop pandering to the cancel culture that has been overwhelming the industry, rendering, in particular, all young-adult books flat and filled with uninteresting political correctness, then the whole oppressive structure they’ve set up within it might topple.

Writers and creative people will then be free to open their minds and create with originalitet and freedom again.

Well, Hachette will be receiving one of my thank you mails!

That is brave and right of them. It is utterly ridiculous to threaten to down tools over publishing a children’s book over the completely unrelated views of the author, unless I missed the bit in the Ickabog where it states its belief in the material reality of sex.

All this childish, toy throwing behaviour is not doing gender ideology any good at all.

There is a petition on Change re the changes to GRA, lots of emotive, hyperbole and misinformation, you would truly believe how awful the government is for listening to women. Contrast that to the open season on bullying, the cancel culture, the threats, the woke staff (just in the last week alone) it paints an entirely different picture from the 'most oppressed people ever' line. The government is watching all this unfold. What we have been saying for years is being proven right every single day and this time the public is seeing it as well.

This is just another example.

Sunlight.

Subtext: not publish a new JKR book? Are you mad?????

Good on Hachette, I’ll see how I can support by buying their authors.

Hachette workers have previous I believe - Woody Allen.

If I was their boss, i'd really want to know which part of her post that they disagreed with! She said literally nothing "against" transgender people. So immature. I'm glad the publishers at least are being adults about this. FFS children.

Well done Hachette.

I don't think it's about ideals of freedom of speech, although that may be something the company supports. It'll be about the bottom line. And that's because it's a company. It's not a social enterprise set up to give woolly hugs to its junior staff and print the works of writers they agree with.

The students who started no platforming are now in the real world and I imagine it's tough finding out that your employer doesn't care what your ideals are, you're there to work. And it's fine if you disagree, there are other people who will happily fill your vacancy position if you leave. They think their opinions are worth the same to their boss as their employer's major writer. It's almost funny.

If I was their boss, i'd really want to know which part of her post that they disagreed with! She said literally nothing "against" transgender people.*

I'd want to them to take me through it too, especially if they have anything to do with reading manuscripts and making decisions about which books to put up for publishing. They've clearly demonstrated an inability to understand text and to think critically about it. They've also demonstrated that they can't tolerate something they don't agree with, indicating that if an amazing script came through, but they didn't agree with it, they'd discard it.

I mean, if you work in publishing and can't read what is there in black and white, only what's in your head, then it's probably time to look for another career.

The students who started no platforming are now in the real world and I imagine it's tough finding out that your employer doesn't care what your ideals are, you're there to work. And it's fine if you disagree, there are other people who will happily fill your vacancy position if you leave. They think their opinions are worth the same to their boss as their employer's major writer. It's almost funny.

This is spades. They've grown up having grown-ups bend over backwards to accommodate them and their feelings and now it's time to learn about reality and that no, you can't always demand something and get it. Your bosses are not your parents.

I am beyond proud. Yes, Hachette is my publisher and I'm so happy to see them standing firm.

Surely if a person refuses to do their job they can be sacked? I'm afraid I've rather passed the point of trying to find compromise. It is not appropriate for organizations or governments to respond to tantrum with placation. It's long past time that people who throw their toys out of the pram every time they don't get their own way were told "no".

I stopped saying ‘yes dear’ to avoid a tantrum/row, and allowing the odd chocolate bar with breakfast for a quiet life when DS was... about 4?

In my contracts there always has been the ‘if you don’t like it - if it’s part of your job (that you signed up for) hold your nose and do it’ clause.

If only the parents of those young people publicly tantruming now had done the same.

This is fantastic, and I'm pleased that Warner Bros didn't cave either.

I'm sure it was 99% about money for them ("So this team meeting is to discuss whether we should attack the woman who's one of our biggest earners and essentially funded all your jobs.")

But even so, fighting the cancel culture is hard.

Wish the companies would turn tables and start cancelling bullies.

Feels like we are a minute away from
Burning books.

Publishing is a very competitive industry ... just sayin'

Coincidentally I was just catching up with the article about JKR in the Sunday Times.
I am glad that Hachette haven’t given in to this but it’s very worrying that these young people think they can influence publishers in this way. If freedom of speech is not for you then maybe publishing is the wrong career choice.

Thank god WB and Hachette have some common sense

I find this 1984 thought police nonsense absolutely terrifying

Some of the activists have already been burning Harry Potter books.

Ironically many years ago, the same group would have ridiculed other faith-based groups for the exact same behaviour.