In April 2024, news spread on the Internet that the author of the Harry Potter book series was planning an imminent move to Russia and had even purchased real estate in the center of Moscow. We decided to check whether this information is true.
Rowling's proposed move to Russia wrote some informational And entertaining portals, as well as aggregators news. This topic was actively discussed by social network users (X, Telegram, Facebook, "VKontakte") And blogging platforms. Specialized resources have also written about this real estate. In many sources published the writer’s own explanations about what caused the decision to move: “Russia is the last state where I can call a spade a spade with impunity. Here I am a woman, and not a person with a vagina, as they believe in Britain.” It is stated that, according to the writer, “it is very strange for her that in the modern world she has to fight for her right to be a normal woman. But in Russia it is not necessary to do this, which is why Russia has become her choice and a stronghold of traditional values, which she, like all normal people, adheres to.”
JK Rowling has been in conflict with the trans community for several years now. It all started in 2020. Then, on her Twitter page (now X), the writer commented on an article in the publication Devex, in the text of which the expression “people with menstruation” was used (thus, obviously, the author united women and representatives of other genders who menstruate). Rowling wrote: ““People who menstruate”? I'm sure there was some word that described these people. Someone help me." Next, she offered several variants of the distorted word “woman” in English. The author of “Harry Potter” did not stop there and wrote more series posts in which she explained her position. In short, it boils down to the fact that denying the significance of biological sex harms the fight for women's rights. Rowling's publications caused a sharply negative reaction from trans activists, and she was accused of transphobia. Outraged activists and the fact that the main villain in Rowling’s recent novel “Bad Blood” is a maniac who dresses up as a woman (this, according to critics, proves the author’s transphobia).
Actors from the Harry Potter films also responded to the conflict: the leading actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) spoke out in support of the trans community, while Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) defended Rowling, saying that they did not see any transphobia in her position.
Rowling told on her X page that hundreds of activists threatened to “beat her, rape her, kill her and blow her up.” The confrontation between the writer and the trans community has also gone beyond the Internet. In 2021, a group of trans activists staged share protest near Rowling's house, and her address was visible in the photographs they posted online. In connection with this, the writer received enough threats to “paint the whole house with them.” In 2024, British TV presenter India Willoughby stated, which contacted the police in connection with Rowling’s behavior as a blogger, it is alleged that she repeatedly used the wrong pronouns when referring to Willoughby on social networks.
The news about Rowling’s supposed move to Moscow refers precisely to the confrontation between the writer and trans activists, which has been going on for several years. However, reports that she bought an apartment in Moscow or at least expressed a desire to do so, “Verified” could not be found either in the British or other English-language media, or in her social networks. It was not possible to find the quotation attributed to her in these sources - in any of the English translations. Let us note that large Russian publications, both censored and independent, did not write about this.
The earliest message that Rowling purchased real estate in Moscow was published on April 12, 2024 at 21:45 Moscow time in the Telegram channel “and here is my Yandex wallet"(22,000 views at the time of writing the analysis). The same post also contains a quote that went viral on social networks.
This channel specializes in satirical news, which its authors clearly state in the profile description: “Parody, satire on political reality. Only verified fakes.” Despite this warning, Internet users often take publications in this channel at face value. Thus, “Verified” has already denied reports that Anatoly Chubais filed a lawsuit against Russia in the ECHR because of Putin’s statements about him that Olga Buzova condemned the participants of the “almost naked” party or that the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell called on African countries to starve for independence. All this news initially appeared as satirical news in the “here is my Yandex wallet” channel, but then spread under the guise of being real.
Cover photo: Executive Office of the President, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Read on the topic:
- Open. J.K. Rowling e la falsa dichiarazione sul suo trasferimento in Russia
- Glamor. A Complete Breakdown of the J.K. Rowling Transgender-Comments Controversy
- Is it true that a Polish TV channel used a neural network to erase Harry Potter’s scar because of its resemblance to the letter Z?
- Is it true that the official Harry Potter series will feature non-binary and transgender actors?
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