Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in a televised speech on Friday that Russia is being "canceled like J.K. Rowling," by the West in his denouncement of cancel culture, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Russian leader has undergone extensive criticism for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a war that has been ongoing for more than a month. Putin said that the British author "didn't satisfy the demands of gender rights," as the reason for her being "canceled," the report said - which is in reference to statements she has made that led many to accuse her of transphobia.
Putin also said that the West is "banning Russian writers and books," as well as composers from Russia "including Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff" and are "trying to cancel a whole one-thousand-year culture" following the international condemnation of the invasion and the increase in sanctions, according to Sky News. “They are now trying to cancel our country. I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia.”
The Russian president also likened the situation to Nazi book burnings in the 1930s. "We remember the footage when they were burning books," Putin said.
This is not the first Nazi comparison that was made during this war, as Russia had repeatedly stated that the invasion of Ukraine was in order to "de-nazify" it.
The Harry Potter author later fired back at the Russian president for his statements, tweeting that "critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics."
In her response, Rowling also shared a BBC article from last year which discusses jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny.
Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkraine https://t.co/aNItgc5aiW
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2022
Rowling has garnered much controversy and criticism due to comments she made about the transgender community. The author had most recently criticized a reform bill that was introduced earlier this month into the Scottish Parliament where it would be easier for transgender individuals to legally change their gender, The Times reported.
Rowling has consistently denied accusations of transphobia. However, it was due to these accusations that she was cut from the Harry Potter reunion special that aired on HBO Max at the beginning of the year, according to multiple sources.