J.K. Rowling Takes Another Huge Blow

Four days in and 2022 is already off to a rough start for "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling. Rowling's once stellar reputation has been in a tailspin since 2020 when her tweets about trans people caused an uproar. The trouble began when Rowling shared an article titled "Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate," and captioned the post: "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"

After receiving some heavy criticism for the tweet, Rowling doubled down. "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased," she wrote. "I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth." Before long, celebrities who had worked with Rowling in the past, including "Harry Potter" stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, came out against her, posting their own statements in support of the trans community, per Glamour. Rowling was also noticeably left out of the 2021 Harry Potter reunion special by HBO, per the Daily Beast, appearing only in archival footage from 2019.

Now, a little over a year later Rowling is facing yet another blow, as an art school in the UK has turned against her as well.

The Boswells School — which had previously used J.K. Rowling's name for one of its school groups — released a memo this week about their decision to replace the author's name with that of Kelly Jones, an accomplished Olympic athlete. "The Boswells House System embeds a sense of community, friendship and healthy competition amongst both students and staff," the memo read, per the Daily Mail. "Following numerous requests by students and staff we are reviewing the name of our red house 'Rowling' and in light of J.K Rowling's comments and viewpoints surrounding trans people. Her views on this issue do not align with our school policy and school beliefs — a place where people are free to be."

Rowling has yet to comment on the news, but that may be because she could soon be facing a scandal of another sort. On a recent episode of his podcast, "The Problem with Jon Stewart," the former "Daily Show" star accused Rowling of antisemitism by way of her depiction of the goblins who run the bank, Gringotts, in the "Harry Potter" series. "It was one of those things where I saw it on the screen and I was expecting the crowd to be like 'Holy s**t,'" Stewart said, per Newsweek, going on to suggest that the goblins were styled to look like stereotypical caricatures of Jewish people. 

Rowling has so far declined to comment on this most recent accusation. It's probably best to talk to a publicist before tweeting back at Stewart, anyway.