JK Rowling has been reported to the police by trans broadcaster India Willoughby over “misgendering” on social media.
Willoughby, a newsreader and Loose Women presenter, claimed to have contacted Northumbria Police about a series of online posts by the Harry Potter author.
It comes after Rowling, 58, called Willoughby, who is Britain’s first trans newsreader, a “man” in posts on X, formerly Twitter.
Willoughby, also 58, said the best-selling author had “definitely committed a crime” in her posts on Sunday and that it was a “cut-and-dry offence”.
Responding to the claim, which was made in an interview with Byline TV, Rowling said no law compelled her to refer to Willoughby as female.
Northumbria Police has not confirmed to The Telegraph whether it has been contacted by Willoughby or whether it is investigating the matter.
‘Definitely committed a crime’
The claims come after Rowling, who has regularly spoken out on the issue of gender identity, refused to refer to Willoughby as a “woman” in an online debate about all-female locker rooms.
Instead, she said Willoughby was “just a man revelling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist”.
In an interview with Byline TV, an independent and subscriber-funded news page, Willoughby claimed Rowling’s posts had breached the law.
Willoughby said: “JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime. I’m legally a woman, she knows I’m a woman, and she calls me a man.
“It’s a protected characteristic and that is a breach of both the Equalities Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She’s tweeted that out to 14 million followers.”
Willoughby added: “If you check out the accounts that have been responding to me on the back of that, her trigger, it’s absolutely disgusting. Putrid.
“Some of the worst abuse I’ve ever seen on social media. I know I’m at the centre of it and I may be a little bit biased…”
Willoughby claimed to have “contacted Northumbria Constabulary” and said: “I don’t know if it’s going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications, but it’s a cut-and-dry offence as far as I’m concerned.”
Responding to the interview, which was published online on Wednesday night, Rowling said that gender critical views are protected in law.
In a post on Twitter, she said:
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