The Russian President said the West ‘cancelled’ the British author
Vladimir Putin has defended J.K. Rowling during a speech condemning “cancel culture” and claimed the West is trying to cancel Russia too.
The Russian president said the Harry Potter author was cancelled over her views on gender, warning the movement would soon move to works of great Russian composers like Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Dmitry Shostakovich.
“They cancelled Joanne Rowling recently – the children’s author, her books are published all over the world – just because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights,” Putin said during a televised meeting with cultural figures.
He continued: “They are now trying to cancel our country. I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia.”
Putin went on to liken “cancel culture” to Nazis burning books in the 1930s, saying: “We remember the footage when they were burning books,” he said.
"It's impossible to imagine such a thing in our country"
President Vladimir Putin uses J K Rowling as an example of Western cynicism and "cancel culture", which he says is currently being aimed at Russia.
Latest on Ukraine: https://t.co/XTFXr6HmAe
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/TyH9lddC5k
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 25, 2022
“It is impossible to imagine such a thing in our country and we are insured against this thanks to our culture.
“And it’s inseparable for us from our motherland, from Russia, where there is no place for ethnic intolerance, where for centuries representatives from dozens of ethnic groups have been living together.”
Responding to the address on twitter, J.K Rowling condemned Putin’s record on human rights’ abuses.
She said: “Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics”
Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkraine https://t.co/aNItgc5aiW
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2022
While sexual activity between same-sex couples has been legal in Russia since 1993, LGBT people are not offered the same legal and social rights as their non-LGBT peers.
Some of the larger cities are known to have thriving LGBT communities, but there are currently no laws in Russia protecting discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity.
Related Links
- Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens formally charged with indecent exposure
- P&O Ferries boss admits firm broke law by not consulting Unions – says he’d do it again
- False claims made by Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions
