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Ed Sheeran has denied spending New Year’s Eve with Harry Potter author JK Rowling, calling the erroneous reports “divisive and damaging.”
The “Shape of You” singer-songwriter, 33, took issue with a tweet by transgender newsreader India Willoughby, 59.
On his Instagram Stories, Sheeran posted a screenshot of a tweet by Willoughby that showed a headline reading: “How Ed Sheeran brought joy to wounded [Israel Defence Force] soldiers – opinion.”
Willoughby added in the post: “Ed Sheeran reportedly went to JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, too.”
The musician denied both claims, writing: “Respectfully, India Willoughby, and any other journalist who has reported both these stories, neither are true. I spent new year with my family and friends.
“The story about wounded soldiers at my show, was a charity that sourced tickets to my show in Cyprus last year, which was a large scale public concert.
“This sort of reporting is [divisive] and damaging, please research before you post things.”
Rowling has been met with strong backlash in recent years over her outspoken stance on trans women, which many, including LGBT+ spokespeople, have deemed transphobic.
Rowling’s comments on the trans community also prompted stars of the Potter film franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, to distance themselves from the author and her work.
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The author shared that she’d received a reply to the photo that said: “I hope he leaves you for a trans woman,” to which she commented: “I just read this to Neil and he said something that made me laugh so hard I nearly coughed up a kidney.”
When one of Rowling’s followers urged her to reveal what her husband had said, Rowling replied: “I’m not about to get my husband cancelled. One in the family’s enough!”
Rowling first made her stance on transgender women public in December 2019 when she tweeted in support of researcher Maya Forstater, whose job contract at think-tank Centre for Global Development was not renewed due to a series of tweets she had made questioning government plans to allow people to self-identify as another gender.
These initial remarks prompted backlash from fans of the author, who labelled Rowling a “terf” – an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
The author, who has denied being transphobic, but previously stated she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns, went on to post a much-maligned essay about gender identity ideology on her website.
In this essay, she outlined five reasons to be “worried about the new trans activism” and it received condemnation from Radcliffe and Watson. In April 2024, Rowling reignited her row with the pair, suggesting she won’t “forgive” the actors for questioning her trans views.
