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Mady Gosselin Shades J.K. Rowling Following Transgender Comments Controversy: ‘It’s Embarrassing’
Mady Gosselin threw shade at J.K. Rowling following her controversial tweets about the transgender community.
“Bookmark,” the former Jon and Kate Plus 8 star, 20, captioned a shot of her latest read. In the comments, she elaborated, “Also yeah, it’s embarrassing that I’m reading Harry Potter, but I think we can collectively ignore it.”
When one fan asked, “Embarrassing?? Harry Potter is the best!” she explained, “I can’t say I’ll ever read anything written by JKR proudly, even if it does remind me of my childhood.”
The daughter of Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin seemingly alluded to the author’s remarks, which caused fans and stars like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Eddie Redmayne to speak out against her.
On June 6, Rowling retweeted an op-ed piece that discussed “people who menstruate,” taking issue with the fact that the story did not use the word women. “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she wrote.
That initial tweet garnered a lot of backlash, but Rowling didn’t stop there. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” she tweeted. “The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women — i.e., to male violence — ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences — is a nonsense.”
She continued, “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.”
Days later, on June 10, Rowling published a lengthy post on her website and sent out a tweet that read “TERF Wars.” (TERF is an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.)
Rowling’s initial tweets and her subsequent doubling down have sparked outrage from trans activists and fans of Harry Potter, many of whom found comfort in the story of an outsider finding a place where he belonged.
“Harry Potter is about the magic of love, acceptance, belonging. The power of courage,” one fan wrote at the time. “The impact of hope. Trying to take those things away from people is a terrible tragedy. Trans women are women.”
Warner Brothers, which produced the Harry Potter films, released this statement about Rowling’s comments, noting the company’s “position on inclusiveness is well-established.”
As for Mady, she’s dealing with her own drama. Emotions have been running high in the Gosselin brood ever since their brother Collin Gosselin accused their father, Jon, 43, of physical abuse in a now-deleted Instagram post.
The County of Berks, Pennsylvania Child and Youth Services later notified Kate, 45, of the alleged incident that took place between Jon and Collin, 16, causing a further rift in the family. “I don’t want my children around [Jon]. Enough is enough,” the mother of eight told People on September 10.
The following day, Jon strongly denied the allegations in a statement to In Touch. “No charges have been filed against him and there’s no ongoing Children and Youth Services investigation,” the TV star-turned-DJ‘s rep said. “Jon is a loving father who has worked hard to ensure that his son gets the support and help he needs.”
A source told In Touch school is Mady’s “priority” at this time. She “keeps her distance from her dad,” they said. Though “she loves Jon because he’s her dad, she supports her mom one hundred percent.”
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