In April, the backlash against Rowling went a notch higher after she appeared to celebrate the UK Supreme Court ruling that the terms “women” and “sex” in the Equalities Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Boy George calls JK Rowling ‘a rich bored bully’
After X users held JK Rowling “responsible” for diminishing trans rights, the author asked, “Which rights have been taken away from trans people?”
In response, a user claimed the author and her “TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) army” had taken the “freedom to live without constant persecution” from trans people.
The ‘Culture Club’ star waded into the argument and commented, “The right to be left alone by a rich bored bully!”
The right to be left alone by a rich bored bully! https://t.co/vTNdexD9Uk
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) June 14, 2025
George’s 11-word sledge led Rowling to punch out a more than 300-word response, accusing the singer, whose real name is George O’Dowd, of sneering at “unenlightened plebs” who reject the notion that trans women are women, the Daily Mail reported.
JK Rowling digs out Boy George’s 2009 jail sentence
“There are many differences between us, George,” JK Rowling wrote in her lengthy post, before outlining how she was a woman and Boy George was a man, and that he had been wealthy and famous since he was in his early 20s, while she had not become well-known until she was more than a decade older.
There are many differences between us, George, but some are particularly relevant to this debate.
1. You’re a man and I’m a woman.
2. You’ve been wealthy and famous since your early 20s. I didn’t become well known until I was well over 30.
3. I’ve never been given 15 months… https://t.co/bBbG9NPNKm
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 15, 2025
In her post, the author also referenced the singer being sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2009 after he was convicted of the assault and false imprisonment of male escort Audun Carlsen.
“I’ve never been given 15 months for handcuffing a man to a wall and beating him with a chain. You yourself have been convicted of violent assault. The overwhelming number of people who commit crimes of violence are male, just like you,” Rowling wrote.
“For more than half my life, I was a regular anonymous person. Some of those years were spent in poverty. That’s why I understand the importance of single-sex spaces for women who’re reliant on state-funded services,” she added.
“That’s why I understand why mixed public changing rooms are a problem for women. That’s why I have a problem with men ‘identifying’ into women’s rape crisis centres, domestic abuse and homeless shelters that are supposed to be single-sex,” she added.
JK Rowling bashes George Boy while explaining her stance on freedom of speech
JK Rowling explained her position on free speech while continuing her attack on the 64-year-old singer.
“That’s why I don’t want to see men identifying into women’s prison cells or any of the spaces mentioned above. Not all men are violent or predatory, but enough are to make safeguarding necessary,” she continued.
Rowling concluded by expressing her confidence in free speech before criticizing Boy George as a “tediously
