British author JK Rowling has been scathing in her criticism of comedian John Oliver over his recent claims about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The Harry Potter creator accused the HBO host of “spouting absolute bulls**t” after he claimed there was no evidence that transgender athletes pose safety or fairness concerns in women’s competitions.
The clash erupted after Oliver’s Friday broadcast of Last Week Tonight, where he dismissed concerns about biological males competing in female sports.
Oliver, speaking on his HBO show, claimed the issue of trans athletes was being overblown.
“There are vanishingly few trans girls competing in high schools anywhere,” the British-born broadcaster stated.
He further argued: “Even if there were more, trans kids like all kids vary in terms of athletic ability, and there is no evidence they pose any threat to safety or fairness.”
The host suggested it was “very weird” for critics to focus heavily on this subject.
Rowling swiftly responded on her X account, expressing regret at having to criticise someone who had previously supported her charity Lumos.
The author cited a recent UN report claiming more than 600 biological females failed to medal in over 400 competitions across 29 sports due to trans inclusion.
She also referenced the case of university student Payton McNabb, who suffered a concussion after being struck by a transgender player during a volleyball match.
“An undoubtedly intelligent person spouts absolute bulls**t to support something he wants to be true, but isn’t,” Rowling wrote.
Rowling further slammed Oliver as one of the elites who “stare unabashedly into a camera and insist that their audiences’ eyeballs are incapable of seeing what’s plain as day.”
She delivered a pointed critique of those defending trans athletes in women’s sports: “If you want to tell the world you’re happy to watch females suffer injury, humiliation and the loss of sporting opportunities… fair enough.”
The author particularly took issue with Oliver’s use of “sexual predation against young women as a punchline” in his closing remarks.
“If you’ve just told girls they don’t deserve fair sport, maybe rethink using all too real and common sexual predation against young women as a punchline for your ‘edgy’ closing joke.”
Rowling’s latest criticism aligns with her established position on gender identity issues, which she detailed in her recent essay in The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht.
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Nothing about this feels good, because John Oliver generously gave his time for my charity Lumos and I liked him very much when I met him, but God knows, if you ever need an example of motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, this video’s for you. An undoubtedly intelligent… https://t.co/3IS4onzXq0
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 17, 2024
In that publication, the 59-year-old author wrote: “I’d come to believe that the socio-political movement insisting ‘trans women are women’ was neither kind nor tolerant.
“But in fact profoundly misogynistic, regressive, dangerous in some of its objectives and nakedly authoritarian in its tactics.”
