Following the attack on Salman Rushdie, Harry Potter author JK Rowling received death threats.
JK Rowling, the best-selling author of the massively popular Harry Potter series, received death threats on Twitter on Saturday in response to her reaction to the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York. The 57-year-old author took to twitter to express her distress over the news of Rushdie’s attack, calling it “horrifying news” and saying, “Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok.”
Salman Rushdie, the India-born author, who went into hiding after Iran issued a fatwa urging Muslims to kill him over his novel, The Satanic Verses, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at a literary event in New York on Friday.
To her Tweet, an Iran-backed extremist commented, “Don’t worry, you are next.’’ Rowling posted the screenshots of the replies from the user, tagging Twitter Support’s account, asking if she could get “any chance of some support.’’ The user had also replied to her tweet praising the attacker. “The name of this man is Hadi Matar. He is a revolutionary Shia fighter.’’
Aziz previously tweeted about his desire to destroy Israel and referred to the Jewish state, Ukraine, and India as “terrorist states,” according to an archive of his account.
Rowling thanked her supporters in the same thread and informed them that the police were investigating the issue. “To all sending supportive messages: thank you. Police are involved (were already involved on other threats),” she wrote.
Rowling later shared a screenshot of Twitter’s feedback after reporting the user, which stated that there were “no violations of the Twitter rules” in the comment.
In a statement to Deadline, Discovery, the media conglomerate which owns Warner Bros, the studio behind the “Harry Potter” film franchise, condemned the threats against Rowling.
“Warner Bros. Discovery strongly condemns the threats made against JK Rowling. We stand with her and all the authors, storytellers and creators who bravely express their creativity and opinions. WBD believes in freedom of expression, peaceful discourse, and supporting those who offer their views in the public arena.
“Our thoughts are with Sir Salman Rushdie and his family following the senseless act of violence in New York. The company strongly condemns any form of threat, violence or intimidation when opinions, beliefs, and thoughts might differ,” the corporation said in the statement.
