JK Rowling has responded publicly after being featured in a provocative Glastonbury Festival installation designed to mock high-profile figures.
The giant billboard is drawing significant attention at Glastonbury, with people posing for photos by it.
The piece, created by campaign group Led by Donkeys, is on display at the festival’s Block 9 area and depicts various billionaires, celebrities, and world leaders dressed in orange jumpsuits, queuing for a trip to space.
In a post on Instagram, Led by Donkeys explained the concept behind the installation: “The tech bros want to go to Mars. So we’re sending them there.”
The mural opens with a depiction of Tesla billionaire Elon Musk wearing an orange jumpsuit that resembles both a space suit and prison attire.
He is shown through a circular rocket window, his arm raised in a manner echoing a controversial salute he made at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Further down the line of figures is JK Rowling, shown smoking a cigar – a nod to an image of her from earlier this year following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the legal definition of “woman” should be based on biological sex.
Other recognisable figures in the queue include Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer, Prince Andrew, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Nigel Farage, and Jeff Bezos.
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Beside the rocket installation sits a Tesla bearing the license plate “fascism,” recently flattened by 98-year-old Second World War veteran Ken Turner using a tank.
The wrecked electric vehicle is now topped with a massive shipping container emblazoned with the Block9 logo.
Feminist campaigner and Rowling ally Julie Bindel shared an image of Rowling in the jumpsuit on X, commenting: “I mean, @jk_rowling has long been a lesbian icon, but this takes it up a notch or two!”
Rowling herself responded with humor, replying: “I’m really confused. Am I supposed to feel insulted? That’s the coolest I’ve ever looked in my life.”
People were quick to join in on the joke in the comments, with one user writing: “It’s bada*s. New profile image please.”
Another added: “You got those ‘slay’ vibes going on,” while a third simply wrote “Epic!”
Led By Donkeys, made up of Ben Stewart, James Sadri, Oliver Knowles and Will Rose explained the thinking behind their latest work..
They told the Guardian: “Elon Musk and the tech bros say they want humans to become an interplanetary species.
“They say the great priority of humanity should be to colonise Mars. That’s not just mad, it’s dangerous.
“It encourages the notion that Earth is temporary and expendable, that we don’t need to cherish and protect it because we can just move on. In reality Earth is the only place where humanity can thrive. The problem is, we’re trashing it.
“If Musk and Bezos really want to live on Mars, fine, go for it, do it. Just don’t expect the rest of us to come with you. That’s why we’ve built a rocket at Glastonbury so we can send them to Mars while we party on Earth.”
