Harry Potter and the Ongoing Spat

[JsmeLegie]

I see she is now claiming that she was never actually friends with Fry.

Link here: https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/jk-rowling-stephen-fry-friends-b1234360.html

In support of Fry, barrister Jo Maugham stated “Really creditable this, from Stephen Fry. I've spoken to so many of JKR's once friends who now despair at her privately but won't do so publicly, which is very much the British way and why nothing ever changes for the better. So well done Stephen.”

Now Casey Bloys, CEO of the network working on a new HP series, has felt the need to clarify on a podcast that the forthcoming series won't be infused with her controversial views, insisting that her views are entirely separate to the show they're making.

And, as one of the latest celebrities to decide to speak out, Boy George weighed in at the beginning of the month with a few observations of his own (see attached image).

So the question here, really, is just how long are certain people going to blindly insist that JKR is an infallible saint when the (increasing) evidence from multiple sources is to the contrary?

Yes, she has funded a lot of good and charitable works for women, that is not in question, but at what point do we as a society finally agree that a human being is not absolved of horrendous behaviour in one part of their life simply because they compensate for it by doing a few good works in another?

Or perhaps you disagree entirely with all her detractors and feel she is unfairly treated / misunderstood / misquoted?
I'd like to hear your views. They are guaranteed to create an interesting dialogue.

Ah yes of course, when Robin used to pop in to talk about trains! Those were the days…

Boy George nicked my boyfriend. So he's not getting my vote.

Well it’s obvious that this thread didn’t go the way the OP thought..
😂

Misbehave? Examples please

I respect Rowling's opinions because she has expressed them with eloquence, clarity and great care. Not because she's rich. There are other people who are not as far as I know multi-millionaires but equally eloquent that I admire equally in that respect.

And I admire her because she doesn't just say it, she does something about it. Which, yes, she has the ability to do on a grander scale because of her wealth, but so many more rich people have the ability to do and don't. And again there are plenty of not rich people who are doers and helpers and again that is something I much admire.

Woah woah woah! I didn't know this!

So the three men the OP has chosen to quote constitute two convicted criminals (one a violent sexual crime, the other a crime of dishonesty) and a man who clubbed a defenceless animal to death and was investigated by the RSPCA but narrowly managed to escape criminal charges?

What makes those men fit to cast aspersions on the morals of a woman whose only crime is to say that men can't become women?

All three of them need to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up.

I was going to go with morons

horrendous behaviour

What on earth are you talking about?

You're wrong though. Daniel Radcliffe for example, was extremely fond of her at one time. Right up until he decided to throw her under the bus for Hollywood woke cookies.

Definitely says more about him I'd say.

There aren’t many people with less of a right to criticise, than Boy George. He should be very quiet indeed.

Interesting you think JKR is a more horrendous person than BG, though.

Jo Maugham - not a good bloke
Stephen Fry - not a good bloke
Boy George - not a good bloke

Three blokes denouncing one woman 🤔

Looking forward to seeing what behaviour of JKR is classed as horrendous though.

Me too.

The fact that BoyGeorge feels compelled to throw in a comment about JKR's appearance really betrays his misogyny doesn't it.

I see she is now claiming that she was never actually friends with Fry.

She's not claiming that. Her tweet was obviously in response to Jololyon's little tale of "I've spoken to so many of JKR's once friends who now despair at her privately."

The fox basher is a known liar anyway.

I think "liar" is an understatement tbh.

🤣
🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣

Boy George and Jolyon M and Stephen Fry vs JKR …

🍎🍏

I desperately hope that the OP has been using AI. I refuse to believe a human mumsnetter could mention Boy George's latest pronouncements and then go on to type perhaps more philosophically, about whether a person's good works in one field entitle them to misbehave with impunity in another. No-one could be foolish enough to dig that kind of hole.

But as the question has been posed, let me answer. No, George O'Dowd's past chart-toppers and record sales do not entitle him to handcuff a man to a radiator or to beat him with a chain. Nor did it entitle him to sexually assault his victim with objects.

And Boy George is the last person who should be musing on whether moral character affects one's appearance. The images of him outside the courts during the trial are readily googleable...

Not forgetting Fry's views about sexual abuse of children.

I'm yet to see any evidence of JKR "misbehaving with impunity".

Boy George on the other hand:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_George#Assault_and_false-imprisonment_conviction

Has Gary Glitter slagged her off yet?

Us women are missing the point, some men have spoken. Why don't we fix ourselves...Stepford wives comes to mind.

I try to avoid reading her comments and especially her tweets because I think she's unnecessarily unpleasant and gets enjoyment out of it. She has said she enjoys all the twitter spats and I think it just makes her look nasty. But I'm not particularly keen on Stephen Fry either and although I have liked some of Boy George's music he's not saint either. So I don't like any of them

Sorry, to threaten to sexually assault his victim with objects. Fortunately the victim escaped before O'Dowd could act on his threat.

Testimony from victim as reported in the Independent

His voice shaking, Mr Carlsen told the court how the two men tackled him when he walked into the bedroom.
"This other man was holding me down while George was hitting me ... He was screaming 'Fing whore, now you are going to get what you deserve'. I don't remember every detail. I was in such shock." His right wrist had been handcuffed to a hook by the bed and Mr O'Dowd had ordered the other man to leave.
"He came back to the bed, punched me. He was shouting, completely mad. I was just paralysed. I just wanted to get loose. I was screaming 'Why are you doing this to me?'. He was very angry. His face, I can't get it out of my head, it was mad. It was very wild."
The singer had then left the room and returned with sex toys and chains. "He said, 'now you fng c*, you are going to get it.'" Mr Carlsen had escaped and fled into the street where a shop worker called police.

Yes, it’s pretty much a hat trick isn’t it?
you’ve taken something a proven violent man says and have posted it here to argue that those words are ‘proof’ that a woman is wrong? (We have different definitions of proof, mine is the commonly used one such as that used to convict criminals, eg the proof used against the aforementioned criminal you are a big fan of when he was sentenced to jail, and yours is just flat out made up). I think you’re in the wrong place, because Mumsnet isn’t particularly tolerant of not just flat out bullshit but really bloody dim bullshit.