The Kremlin chief has compared the criticism that targets JK Rowling to the treatment given to artists who support the invasion in Ukraine. The “Harry Potter” author was quick to respond.
JK Rowling did not like Vladimir Putin’s recent statements. The head of the Kremlin compared, during an appearance on Russian television on Friday, the criticisms aimed at the author of Harry Potter and the boycott against certain Russian artists. The British writer reacted on Twitter by accusing the Russian president of “massacring civilians” in Ukraine.
JK Rowling, who recently announced a donation ofone million pounds for the benefit of the victims of the war in Ukraine, reacted quickly to condemn these remarks:
“Criticism of the Western world’s ‘cancel culture’ is probably not welcome from those who massacre civilians whose only crime is to resist, or imprison and poison their critics,” she wrote. on Twitter, adding the hashtag #JeSoutienslUkraine.
The British author added a link to a BBC article on Alexei Navalny, a Russian opponent recently sentenced to nine years in prison.
JK Rowling has come under a lot of criticism in recent years for her controversial outspokenness about transgender people.
“They are trying to ‘cancel’ our country”
In recent weeks, some Russian artists who have spoken openly in favor of the violent invasion of Ukraine have seen the Western world turn its back on them. Vladimir Putin raised this issue in his speech on Friday. The Head of State deplored a consequence of the “cancel culture” (“culture of cancellation”, literally), which consists in obscuring a personality whose political opinions are considered problematic:
“JK Rowling, author of children’s books that have sold millions of copies worldwide, was recently ‘canceled’ because she didn’t appeal to supporters of transgender freedom,” he said. he said in an excerpt reported by Sky News. “And today they’re trying to ‘cancel’ our country. I’m talking about positive discrimination of anything Russia-related.”
“The last attempt to ‘cancel’ culture was that of the Nazis”, he accused, before adding, as reported by the BBC“They ban Russian authors and books. The famous ‘cancel culture’ has become a cancel culture.”
Removed from several orchestras
The international influence of several Russian artists who have come out in favor of the invasion of Ukraine has thus been tarnished in recent weeks. Pianist Boris Berezovsky, aroused outrage by calling to “cut off the electricity” to Ukrainians. The conductor Valery Gergiev, close to Putin, has thus been dismissed from several international orchestras, including the Philharmonie de Paris. Soprano Anna Netrebko, who traveled to Donetsk in December 2015 to pose with the flag of the pro-Russian separatist rebels, announced that she would give up the stage “until further notice”.
Conversely, the Bolshoi ballerina Olga Smirnova, one of the most renowned dancers of her generation, left the famous ballet calling the invasion of Ukraine a “world catastrophe”. and joined the Dutch National Ballet. She has since been hosted by the Dutch National Ballet troupe based in Amsterdam.