Are we now coming to our senses as western societies? Or is this just a case of companies caving to do the right thing in the moment?
The number of people who have threatened violence and attempted to cancel Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, is immense. They may not be in the majority but they certainly are vocal and visible online. Once the darling of most political persuasions for her work in getting children to read once more, she is now loathed by those who hold an opposing view of transgender issues than she. For that, she has often been pushed to the side as much as contracts will allow. In her favor, however, she has tremendous contractual power that she negotiated at the very beginning of Harry Potter’s meteoric rise. Mrs. Rowling is quite difficult to cancel.
In light of the attack and attempted murder of author Salman Rushdie, additional scrutiny has been placed on the livelihood and safety of authors. When Mrs. Rowling posted a statement in support of the hospitalized author, she was given a tweet responding to her that seemed to threaten her own life. The scurrilous overseers of Twitter refused to take the tweet down, but finally Warner Brothers did the right thing. They put out a statement.
.@TwitterSupport any chance of some support? pic.twitter.com/AoeCzmTKaU
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 13, 2022
Warner Bros. Discovery strongly condemns the threats made against J.K. 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.
Frankly, it’s about time we agreed that murdering and cancelling others for differing beliefs is barbaric, stupid and regressive. Hopefully this continues to be a trend where we reengage with the classical liberal principles that allow for free speech and free discourse. Without those, all meaningful entertainment falls apart.
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This is likely the reason we’re seeing a change. “— Warner Brothers Discovery”
The new management is awake, but not “woke.” We have an ally for good storytelling and apparent human decency in our midst. I hope this keeps going and holds true. If so, I’ll certainly reward WBD with my support of their works.