Written by Sharmita Kar | Edited by Swati Bhasin
Bestselling author of the famed Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, on Saturday faced death threats on Twitter following her reaction to the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York. The 57-year-old writer took to Twitter expressing her distress over the news of Rushdie’s attack calling it “horrifying news” and saying, “Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok.” To this, a user commented on her post: “Don’t worry you are next”.
Rowling shared the screenshots of the replies from the user, tagging Twitter Support’s account, asking if she could get “any chance of some support”.
The user had also replied to her tweet praising the attacker. “The name of this man is hadi matar. He is a revolutionary Shia fighter followed the fatwa of late ayatollah rohullah khomenei”.
Rowling thanked her supporters in the same thread and updated them that the police were investigating the issue. “To all sending supportive messages: thank you. Police are involved (were already involved on other threats),” she wrote.
Rowling later shared a screenshot of Twitter’s feedback after she reported the user, which stated that there were “no violations of the Twitter rules” in the comment.
The British author, who was recently drowned in her own controversies over her stand on transgenders, that angered the LGBTQ+ community, was among many who were left shocked and appalled at the attack on Rushdie.
The Satanic Verses author was stabbed 10 to 15 times before his speech at an event in New York. Rushdie remained hospitalized with serious injuries, but his book agent Andrew Wylie has confirmed that he was off the ventilator and able to talk and joke.
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