JK Rowling mulls suing Scottish MP for defamation after Twitter spat
Harry Potter author JK Rowling says she won't sue Scottish MP Natalie McGarry "at present" following defamatory accusations the politician made during a six hour argument between the two on Twitter.
.@NatalieMcGarry You don't appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I'm going to help you out with the latter.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
McGarry, a former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but now an Independent, tweeted Rowling on Thursday, stating the author “defends abusive misogynist trolls”.
.@NatalieMcGarry I'd love an explanation of this accusation, Natalie. pic.twitter.com/Yh6VvLz285
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
“I’d love an explanation of this accusation, Natalie,” responded Rowling, who has over 6.6 million followers on the social network.
The Glasgow East MP has since made her Twitter account private and her tweets are not visible to those who don’t follow her, but screenshots of the tweets have surfaced.
“It’s quite simple, flee with craws… You tweet supportive tweets of a misogynist Twitter troll,” McGarry said, referring to user @BrianSpanner1, who has previously tweeted abusive comments about the SNP, The Scotsman reports.
.@NatalieMcGarry You are a politician making a public accusation. Show me where I have defended abusive, misogynist trolling.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
“Do you or don’t you tweet supportive tweets of a misogynist and abusive Twitter troll like BrianSpanner1? Answer is yes. Simple,” McGarry added.
With an increasing number of people watching the row unfold on the social network, Rowling responded, seeking examples of where she had “defended misogyny and abuse”.
.@NatalieMcGarry So you need to provide some evidence for that or I'm going to need an apology.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
Rowling then stated she wanted an apology from the MP for implying she tolerated misogyny, before saying they should take the argument offline.
.@NatalieMcGarry OK, Natalie. Guess we'll have to take this offline.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
McGarry apologized for “any misguided inference” that Ms. Rowling supports misogyny or abuse, which Rowling seemed happy with.
Thank you very much, Natalie, and I'd like to ask anyone following me who is being less than polite to you to stop. https://t.co/U1XSkmbNoI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
The row didn’t end there, however.
Shortly afterwards, McGarry sent a screenshot to Rowling of an alleged interaction between her and Spanner, in which the author appeared to respond “you’re a good man” to an abusive tweet sent by Spanner.
.@NatalieMcGarry *sighs* OK, Natalie, that's cut and pasted to suggest I said 'good man' to that tweet, not to fundraising for charity.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
Rowling said the image had been photoshopped, and that her comment actually referred to a tweet she sent to him following a donation he had made to the Lumos charity.
.@NatalieMcGarry This 'proof' is cut and pasted. I assume you want to retract the apology you made 3 mins ago?
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
Rowling followed up her tweets shortly thereafter, hinting that she may take legal action against McGarry.
.@NatalieMcGarry You don't appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I'm going to help you out with the latter.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
“You don’t appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works,” Rowling wrote. “I’m going to help you out with the latter.”
Rowling went on to say that she may donate “all damages” to Lumos.
Thanks Nick. I'm thinking all damages to @lumos! https://t.co/YfEW8Q7v0Z
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 28 января 2016
Rowling's agent has since said legal action will not be taken by the author "at present", the Herald Scotland reported.
In a letter to McGarry, Rowling's agent has requested "an apology and a donation to J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity, Lumos."
McGarry was first elected during the general elections in May of 2015 but was forced to resign from her party, the SNP, in November after it emerged that £30,000 had gone missing from an account of the pro-Scottish independence group Women for Independence, which she helped form in 2012.