JK Rowling has rubbished Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir, branding her “flat out Trumpian” in the trans rights debate.
The Harry Potter author has released a scathing review of Nicola Sturgeon’s new book ‘Frankly’, calling her a ‘f***kwit’, and saying that she has “caused real, lasting harm” in the trans debate.
Scotland’s former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon poses with her memoir “Frankly” at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
She added: “Sturgeon hasn’t been remotely humbled by the Supreme Court ruling that proved her government was forcing a misinterpretation of the UK-wide Equality Act on Scotland, one that robbed women of many single sex spaces and of their very existence as a definable class with rights protected in law.
“She can’t imagine any male predator capitalising on such policies, in spite of the fact that it has, demonstrably, happened many times.”
The author, who has faced years of online abuse for her views on biological sex and women’s rights, takes particular aim at Sturgeon’s reaction to the now-infamous “Destroyer of Women’s Rights” T-shirt photo Rowling posted in 2022.
Sturgeon writes in Frankly that the image was a “turning point” that made her fear for her safety. Rowling says her intention was to force journalists to confront Sturgeon with questions grassroots feminists had been asking and ones the First Minister had “treated with contempt”.
The author even cited the case of Isla Bryson, a convicted double rapist who identified as female and was initially sent to a women’s prison.
It was during that media storm that Rowling says Sturgeon managed to make herself look “a complete f**kwit”. The former First Minister, she claims, “panicked like a pheasant caught in headlights” when asked whether Bryson was a man or a woman.
Rowling also slammed Sturgeon’s infamous claim that some opponents of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill were “transphobic, deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly racist” while likening it to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” gaffe.
JK Rowling has received criticism for her views
In a more personal attack, Rowling hit out at some of Sturgeon’s more personal reflections, often comparing her to Twilight heroine Bella Swan.
She wrote: “Just as Bella’s propensity for accidents doesn’t stop her riding motorcycles, jumping off cliffs or choosing to meet evil vampires for a spot of unarmed combat, Sturgeon’s alleged imposter syndrome and constant crises of confidence don’t prevent her admitting to ‘the raw talent I had for politics’, or that ‘I certainly wasn’t lacking in ability’, that ‘far from being the weak link, I was seemingly the star attraction’, ‘it all added to the sense that I had the Midas touch’ or that ‘there is no doubt that I was a massive electoral asset.’”
In her review, Rowling also criticised Sturgeon’s writing style, calling Frankly more like a “PR statement” than an autobiography.