At this point, J.K. Rowling has died on the same hill many times over — but that doesn’t mean Tinashe has to put up with it. The 29-year-old R&B star was quick to shut down Rowling’s latest transphobia-coded comments on Twitter Tuesday (March 8), just in time for International Women’s Day.
The bestselling Harry Potter author has built up quite the reputation for her controversial takes on trans issues. In 2020, she critiqued an op-ed that referred to “people who menstruate” rather than “women,” and later posted a lengthy open letter to her website that doubled down on widely-circulated anti-trans sentiments — such as forbidding trans women from entering women’s bathrooms — while claiming that she wants trans people to be safe.
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In spite of continuous online pushback from the trans community and pretty much the entire starring cast of the Harry Potter films declaring their opposition to her beliefs, Rowling has continued inserting herself into Twitter discussions about trans issues. Most recently, she slammed British Shadow Minister for Equalities Anneliese Dodds for saying the definition of “woman” is different depending on the context.
“Someone please send the Shadow Minister for Equalities a dictionary and a backbone,” she tweeted. She then referenced her own infamous book villain, Voldemort, writing: “Apparently, under a Labour government, today will become We Who Must Not Be Named Day.”
Rowling’s recycling of her same controversial rhetoric combined with the reference to her own work was a little too much for some people to handle, including Tinashe. “Oh my god, SHUT UP” she replied to the 56-year-old author. The “Lean On Me” artist has made her support of the trans community clear for years, tweeting in 2017, “Transgender people are beautiful and important. They deserve respect and love, just like the rest of us.”
Tinashe is fresh off the release of the deluxe edition of her 2021 record, 333, which she spoke about at this year’s Billboard Women in Music event. “I think it gives the album a little bit more life,” she told Chelsea Briggs on the red carpet. “I wanted to make sure that I was able to continue the era and keep surprising people with more content.”
See Tinashe roast Rowling below.
Oh my god, SHUT UP
— TINASHE ³³³ (@Tinashe) March 8, 2022