Celebrities

JK Rowling has the perfect response to Twitter abuse, and so do her fans

JK Rowling has the perfect response to Twitter abuse, and so do her fans

Some Twitter users have been giving Voldemort a run for his money.

Twitter has been anything but magical for JK Rowling in the past few weeks, after the Harry Potter author complained about the abuse she received on the site. It appears some people took issue with her support for Scotland to remain in the UK, while others disliked her allegiance to the Labour Party.

What were they saying exactly?

Some had urged the Gloucestershire-born writer to leave Scotland, taking particular offence at her donating £1m to the “No” campaign ahead of the Scottish independence referendum. Others had called her a “traitor” for her political views, referring to her as “Blairite scum”.

How did she respond to the abuse?

With humour, mainly. When one commenter suggested her books should be burnt, Rowling replied: “Book burnings! I’ll bring marshmallows.” She also blocked those responsible from contacting her.

Who’s behind the attacks?

Rowling says much of the abuse has come from people claiming to be supporters of the Scottish National Party. Whoever they are, Rowling says the abuse crossed a “personal line” last week when she decided to confront the culprits. “It isn’t always fun being a famous woman on Twitter and I believe in standing up to bullies,” she said.

But others have jumped to her aid.

With offers from fans around the world to move to their countries instead, messages of support have proved the internet isn’t all bad. When some messaged photos of where they lived, she tweeted: “After looking at those beautiful pictures reminds me how big the world is and how many more decent people there are than not, so thank you xxx.”

She did have one bad thing to say about Scotland though…

“I’ve got to be honest, if I’m leaving Scotland, the climate is something I probably wouldn’t want to replicate first!” she said.

More: Here are the the most magical things JK Rowling has ever done

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