The India Willoughby TV channel claimed to have reported “Harry Potter” author Rowling to the police for alleged transphobia.
In a interview with Byline TV Wednesday evening, Willoughby – a former “celebrity” Big brother” and co-host of “Loose Women” – claimed she reported Rowling to Northumbria Police for repeatedly cheating on her online as part of an ongoing feud.
“JK Rowling definitely committed a crime. I'm legally a woman. She knows I'm a woman and she called me a man,” Willoughby said in the interview. “This is a protected characteristic, and this is a breach of both the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act She tweeted it to 14 million followers.
Willoughby continued: “I reported JK Rowling to the police for what she said, and I don't know if it's going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications – but it's a simple offense, as far as I am concerned.”
Representatives for Northumbria Police and Rowling did not immediately respond to Varietyrequest for comment.
Rowling responded to Willoughby's revelation about X, formerly known as Twitterclaiming that she had consulted a lawyer who told her “that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India's obsessive targeting of me over the past few years could reach the legal threshold of harassment.
The author continues to assert that “gender-critical views may be protected by law as a philosophical belief. There is no law requiring anyone to claim to believe that India is a woman.
Rowling added: “Recognizing that lying to law enforcement is a crime, I will simply have to explain to the police that, in my opinion, India is a classic example of the narcissistic man living in a state of perpetual rage that he cannot force women to take him at his own value.
Rowling has been criticized in recent years for her views on the transgender community, particularly trans women, which many have perceived as anti-trans. His comments were criticized by those in the “Harry Potter” world, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Eddie Redmayne. However, during a conference call on February 23, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery executive David Zaslav said executives recently met with Rowling about Max's upcoming “Harry Potter” series.
“We spent some real time with JK and his team,” Zaslav said on the call. “Both parties are just excited to get this franchise going again. Our conversations have been great and we couldn't be more excited about what lies ahead. We can't wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max. »