J.K. Rowling Brags About 'Harry Potter' Royalty Checks To Troll
By Afouda Bamidele on October 16, 2022 at 12:00 PM EDT
Updated on October 16, 2022 at 6:56 PM EDT
J.K. Rowling may be a highly celebrated author worldwide, but her trolls may be marching up to her supporters in number!
It is common knowledge that her outstanding work on the fantasy series "Harry Potter" has received mixed reviews from far and wide, including gender-based and religious controversies. And while this may have prompted talk about her losing her' book audience,' Rowling appears not to be so worried, all thanks to her significant cash flow.
J.K. Rowling Claps Back At A TrollĀ
Bragging about her income while responding to a troll on Twitter who wondered how she "sleeps at night," the British author showed that money seems to ease her pain in no time.
Rowling posted a screenshot of the troll's tweet without their handle, and the message read, "How do you sleep at night knowing you've lost a whole audience from buying your books." The screenshot was accompanied by the author's reply which read:
"I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly."
Her statement seemed to be taken with numerous fans as it has gained nearly 22,000 retweets and more than 280,000 likes. Several liberalists who believed she deserved every penny earned also supported her with positive remarks, including the CEO of Blaze media, Ryler Carditis.
As successful as Rowling is, she naturally gained lots of criticism over the years, including an incident in August when she skipped the anniversary reunion of her most notable work, "Harry Potter."
The Blast noted that fans believed she made no appearance at the HBO special "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" given her social media presence and accusations of transphobic comments.
However, the philanthropist claimed otherwise during a chat on Virgin Radio Saturday with Graham Norton. She said, "I was asked to be on that, and i decided I didn't want to do it."
"I thought it was about the films more than the books, quite rightly. That was what the anniversary was about." She added, "No one said don't [do it]...I was asked to do it, and I decided not to."
The discussion progressed to her debatable social media presence, considering that she received death threats after "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie was stabbed in public. Rowling, who has a "love-hate relationship" with social media, particularly Twitter, explained, "I try to behave online as I would like others to behave."
She added, "I've never threatened anyone. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to go to their houses or anything like that." The 57-year-old possibly referred to when she was doxxed by activists in November 2021, months prior to the reunion special's release.
She further mentioned that social media could be fun while listing the "pub argument aspect of it" as one of her favorites. She also revealed that she could "happily" go for several days without "getting into a [virtual] pub brawl."
Back in 2020, when Rowling published a supposed anti-trans writeup on her website, many "Harry Potter" stars, including star character Daniel Radcliffe spoke up in support of the trans community.
In parts of Radcliffe's statement, he described transgender women as women while stating that any contradictory information erased the "identity and dignity of transgender people." He also hoped it would not taint what members of the community found in the "Harry Potter" stories and were able to resonate with.
The Author Gets Scary Death Threat After Supporting Stabbed Author
Being active on social media and connecting more with fans globally seemed to have cost Rowling as she received a horrifying death threat on Twitter in August. The Blast reported that the threat came after she supported the 75-year-old stabbed author Rushdie by wishing him well on the social media platform.
It is worth knowing that Rushdie was attacked at the CHQ 2022 event in New York while on stage. He was stabbed in his face, arms, and torso nearly fifteen times and was reportedly in danger of losing his eye. Many stars, including Rowling, supported the victim, but unfortunately, her goodwill prompted a user to tell her under her tweet: "Don't worry, you are next."
In response, the Lumos co-founder quoted the statement and tagged Twitter's official support account, pleading with them to come to her aid. She also appreciated her fans for their support and for calling out the threat.