I'm not sure this is the case with this particular artist, but cases like this happens all the time because people assume that everyone who likes Harry Potter automatically supports J.K. Rowling or profits her in any way.
Fan art takes hours to create. Regardless of someone’s skill or level of professionalism, it’s hours upon hours of hard work, dedication, and research to bring their interpretation of a character to life and most do it for free, purely out of love and passion. How is this profiting J.K. Rowling?
Now, J.K. Rowling is a bad person don't get me wrong, but she far from the only controversial public figure out there. If we really want to talk about people whose actions shouldn’t be defended, let’s talk about John Lennon. He was an outspoken activist for peace and the end of the Vietnam War, yet behind closed doors, he beat his pregnant wife so badly that she miscarried. Yoko didn’t want to lose her baby, she was beaten into it. Still, no one accuses Beatles fans of supporting domestic violence.
I love Elvis, but let’s be honest: the man started dating Priscilla when she was 14 and he was 24. Yet people who listen to Elvis aren’t called groomers. James Brown made incredible music and also had a long record of domestic violence arrests. But no one tells you to stop listening to It’s a Man’s World.
Marlon Brando is one of the reasons A Streetcar Named Desire is my favorite film (not just because of his brilliance in portraying feelings , but because he was super hot as Stanley) but he too was accused many times of being abusive on set. Charles Chaplin, the so-called father of cinema, was at the very least disgusting and should've been thrown in jail, he pursued underage girls, fired a 12-year-old for refusing to abort his child, and married her in secret to avoid scandal. Yet no one harasses people online for admiring Chaplin’s work.
Rousseau wrote about morality and parenting, yet a quick Google search will show you that he abandoned all five of his children in orphanages and people still praise him. Picasso was another known abuser, and his paintings still sell for millions.
You know why? Because art is art. It’s what has pushed society forward, helped us express, discuss, and reflect on human complexity. We can appreciate a work and learn from its creator’s flaws at the same time, that's possible, we can appreciate something and still condemn their creator's behavior people are rational and can do it. Believe it or not.
Drawing or writing about Harry Potter characters online , for free, as fans for fans, does not profit J.K. Rowling. HBO buying rights for a Harry Potter series does. A Harry Potter fan is not automatically a J.K. Rowling fan. Trust me I’ve read her other work. Not even the children’s drawings in The Ickabog were enough to make me like that book.
We have to learn to separate the art from the artist. Artists are not morally superior; they’re human, and deeply flawed. If we go around canceling everyone who ever enjoyed something created by a controversial person, then you might as well drop the iPhone you’re reading this on because Steve Jobs, for all his genius, abandoned his daughter, refused to pay child support, and was notoriously abusive to his employees going as far as name calling people at work.
If we apply this standard consistently, we’d have to give up half of modern culture. J.K. Rowling isn’t a good person, I’ll give you that, but harassing fans who love Harry Potter and have built friendships, creativity, and community around it is ridiculous. Especially on a fandom with so much love and support. The other day, I saw a girl comforting a trans boy whose family doesn’t support they were both Marauders fans
If you truly believe in equality, love, and respect, attacking someone just because they like a children’s book is pure hypocrisy. Either cancel everyone who’s ever done something terrible, or accept that people are complicated and art and artists are separated things.
And here’s a friendly reminder: the best thing you can do to hurt J.K. Rowling is to ignore her completely. Her net worth has increased since she began publicly targeting trans people. That’s right increased. She’s back on the billionaire list. Giving her your attention, your outrage, your quote-tweets that’s what she wants. It's as people say: there is no such thing as bad publicity.
If you really want to make her irrelevant, stop interacting with her. Don’t give her your peace of mind. Silence will be the best weapon against her. The day she posts something hateful and no one reacts that’s the day she truly loses.
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