JK Rowling Just Blasted Vladimir Putin After He Said They're Both 'Cancel Culture' Victims
She was not pleased with the comparison!
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Right: Author and novelist JK Rowling.
What do Russian President Vladimir Putin and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling have in common?
Aside from their issues with transgender people, they’re both victims of “cancel culture,” according to the man who ordered a deadly invasion of Ukraine last month.
Putin compared himself to Rowling while going off on a bizarre tangent at a government meeting on Friday, and it's quite the leap in logic.
The Russian leader brought up Rowling while complaining about the raft of Western sanctions his country is facing for its invasion of Ukraine, which has left thousands dead, and driven millions to flee the country.
"They canceled Joan (sic) Rowling recently, the children's author," Putin said in one translation of the video, which has circulated widely online. He said Rowling had been targeted "just because she didn't satisfy the demands of gender rights."
"They are now trying to cancel our country," he added.
Putin cites author JK Rowling as evidence the West engages in \u201ccancel culture\u201dpic.twitter.com/xv2EQz1baE— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1648211969
For those not following along on Twitter, Rowling frequently brings up and then complains about transgender women in long-running rants on the platform. She has also been known to support TERF groups.
Those rants have sparked some awkward rifts between her and some of the actors who appeared in the live-action Harry Potter movies, including Hermione actress Emma Watson and Harry actor Daniel Radcliff.
Putin, meanwhile, became one of the most "cancelled" individuals in the world after ordering some 190,000 troops to invade Ukraine a month ago.
Western countries have been using non-military options to punish Russia in order to avoid World War III.
Most of their efforts have involved restricting trade with Russia and cutting the country off from the rest of the world in several other ways.
Rowling actually responded to Putin's comparison by rejecting his support on Friday, in a post that suggests they're not even in the same league.
"Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crimes of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics," she wrote, before adding: "#IStandWithUkraine."