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Hachette , the newspaper publisher of J.K Rowling ’s children ’s fairytaleIckabog , allege her late anti - trans tweets are examples of freedom of speech and wo n’t let their employee recuse themselves from working on the book . Rowling is well know for theHarry Potternovels , which incorporate the advantageously - selling book serial of all clock time , and spawned eight blockbuster moving picture . She has also written a serial of offense novel under the playpen name Robert Galbraith and is the scriptwriter of theFantastic Beastsmovies set in the Wizarding World .
Rowling recently courted controversy with a series oftransphobictweets . It started when she share an article called " Opinion : create a more equal post - COVID-19 world for people who menstruate , " alongside a tweet saying , " People who menstruate . ’ I ’m sure there used to be a word for those masses . Someone aid me out . Wumben ? Wimpund ? Woomud ? " The source has been criticize by many , includingHarry PotterstarsDaniel Radcliffe , Emma Watson , Rupert Grint , and Katie Leung , as well as from the all-embracing residential district , even managing to get backlash from some of thestars ofRu Paul ’s Drag Race .
However , Hachette , who are publishingIckabog , have toldThe Booksellerthey remain firm behind Rowling ’s right to freedom of actor’s line , and say her tweets wo n’t feign the issue of the book . The publisher exhaust the statement in reply to several employee who had threatened to discontinue work on the book , according toThe Daily Mail . In the affirmation , Hachette suppose they respect an employee ’s right to refuse to function on a book that has content that wound their position , and they will not allow them to down prick on a labor because they disagree with the opinions of the source outside of the study . Hachette ’s full statement can be read below .
" We are lofty to publish J K Rowling ’s tiddler ’s fairytaleThe Ickabog . exemption of address is the cornerstone of publication . We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs . That ’s why we never annotate on our author ’ personal views and we respect our employees ’ right to check a different view . We will never make our employees work on a Christian Bible whose message they find upsetting for personal reason , but we draw a distinction between that and pass up to work on a book because they disaccord with an generator ’s views outside their penning , which runs contrary to our impression in free words . "
The company also said they would let the cat out of the bag privately to each of the employees who had spoken out , and they will deal with matters like this on a case - by - case basis . The threatened walkout echoed a similar reaction at the publisher when it was announced they ’d be publishing Woody Allen ’s memoir . That legal action was successful , resulting inHachette pulping Allen ’s book .
Hachette made it clear they see this situation as different from the Allen Christian Bible . The logical thinking does make gumption on the surface of things . Rowling ’s book should n’t contain any transphobic contentedness , given it ’s a children ’s fairytale . At the same time , Allen ’s memoir either would have had to face the accusations of sexual abuse that have give chase his career or , at the very least , would have ignored them totally , which broadcast its own substance . That means employees would have implicitly been agree with Allen ’s scene . That ’s not the guinea pig with Rowling ’s book . However , there is something to be said with the employee ’s uncomfortableness promoting and turn a profit off a creator who is anti - trans . If Rowling had made anti - Semitic or antiblack comment , would Hachette experience as well-off continuing to release her work ?
Rowling answer to the transphobia allegationsand attempted to explicate herself , although in doing so , she only delve firmer into her anti - trans position . It would be interesting to see if Hachette responded the same mode if the source involved had a low visibility . Rowling ’s name guarantees a book is going to deal well ( belike good than Allen ’s script would have ) , and the cynical response to Hachette ’s position would be to say that maybe they had profit in brain with their decision . We can never know , but it ’s unclouded theHarry Pottercreator ’s tweet has n’t led to her being " canceled " in the eyes of her newspaper publisher .
More : What JK Rowling ’s Anti - Trans Controversy Means For Fantastic Beasts 3
Sources : The Bookseller / The Daily Mail / BBC
