When did popular billionaire J.K. Rowling ever get ”cancelled”?

You might have heard that J.K. Rowling recently published a new book, part of a crime series written under her pen name Robert Galbraith. The over 1000 pages long novel tells the story of an artist, who like J.K. Rowling, gets ”cancelled” online by trans people. The difference is that the fictional artist in the book also gets cancelled IRL, so to speak, since she is murdered.

People have speculated that the book is a sort of self-insert work of fanfiction. Rowling has in recent years gotten a lot of criticism for her transphobia, which includes supporting the work of virulent anti-trans troll Matt Walsh. She denies that the book is inspired by her version of real events but the similarities are interesting. Although, last time I checked, nobody has ever assaulted or murdered her for saying ignorant things on the internet.

While the book is almost certainly a self-righteous self-insert fanfic, what I found curious is that anybody believes Rowling has been ”cancelled”. Because the truth is: nobody is losing their platform or income for being transphobic.

Have Ricky Gervais and Dave Chapelle had their shows removed from Netflix? Does Ben Shapiro no longer have an online show and millions of conservative fans worldwide who give him money and support? Did Rowling have to sell her castle home to survive? Is Harry Potter no longer a billion dollar franchise which include books, Hollywood movies and several theme parks? Does she not still have millions upon millions of fans despite her hateful views?

The truth is: if you spread lies and misinformation about a group of people from your platform, a lot of people from that group and their allies are no longer going to want to support your work. They will likely boycott you and might tell you to go fuck yourself. Some of the more unhinged members of said group might send you death threats. That’s true for any group. If Rowling had focused her ire on gay people instead, a lot of gay people would have reacted the same way trans people have.

We should not care about the crocodile tears of millionaires and billionaires who will face no real consequences for their ignorant views. Who we should care about are the millions of people who are discriminated, persecuted and killed worldwide for their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race or religion. And we should focus on ending the economic inequality that allows billionaires to even exist and cry in their castles while the people they target are facing the real consequences of their hate campaigns.