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Newspaper apologises for allegation that JK Rowling ‘engaged in Holocaust denial’
The false claim was included in a piece published by The Metro about actors being criticised for their roles in a new Harry Potter TV show
A newspaper has apologised for an article which included the accusation that JK Rowling “engaged in Holocaust denial”, saying that the allegation was “wrong” and had been removed from the piece.
In a story published on Monday evening, The Metro described changes in the cast for a new Harry Potter TV series, and talked about accusations of transphobia levelled at the best-selling author of the wizarding books. The piece then included, as a statement of fact, that Rowling had engaged in Holocaust denial. The claim was present in the online story for more than 18 hours, until, after it began to be widely noted on social media, the article was updated to remove the reference.
In 2024, Rowling responded to claims on Twitter regarding the treatment of transgender people by the Nazis; subsequently, an employee of the far-left Novara Media site responded by accused Rowling of Holocaust denial. That employee later made a public apology, describing her allegation as “false and offensive”. Subsequently, however, hundred of anonymous social media accounts hostile to Rowling repeated the accusation.
In comments at the time directly addressing the falsehood, Rowling said:
“While I’m used to the gross distraction techniques used by the more extreme faction of trans activism, the claim that I am a Holocaust denier is baseless and disgusting,” Rowling said.
“I have always been a staunch supporter of the Jewish community and have spoken out consistently and repeatedly against antisemitism.”
She went on to say that: “I’m familiar with such activists’ assertions that transgender people have been uniquely persecuted and oppressed throughout history, but claims that trans people were ‘the first targets’ of the Nazis – a claim I refuted on X, and which led to these accusations – and that I ‘uphold [Nazi] ideology around gender’ is a new low.”
On Tuesday afternoon, The Metro removed the bylines of the two journalists who had previously been credited with the article, and added a paragraph to the top of its piece, reading: “An earlier version of this story wrongly stated that JK Rowling had been ‘engaged in Holocaust denial’. This follows claims in March 2024 when Ms Rowling was accused on X of denying aspects of the Holocaust, an allegation which she strenuously denied. The allegation has been removed and Metro apologises for the error.”
Both The Metro and representatives of Rowling have been approached for comment.
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