J.K. Rowling critiques John Oliver For Claiming Trans Athletes Are No ‘Threat’ To Female Competitors

J.K. Rowling didn’t hold back in her takedown of late-night host John Oliver’s latest virtue-signaling tirade about transgender athletes in sports.

The “Harry Potter” author openly expressed her frustrations online. She started with a note of disappointment. “Nothing about this feels good,” Rowling wrote, referencing her prior respect for Oliver’s charity work with Lumos. However, she quickly tore apart his arguments. “God knows, if you ever need an example of motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, this video’s for you,” she said. “An undoubtedly intelligent person spouts absolute bullsh** to support something he wants to be true, but isn’t.”

On Friday’s episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver addressed the debate on biological males competing in women’s sports. He repeated claims that many consider debunked. His argument dismissed fairness and safety concerns as “overblown hysteria.” “There are vanishingly few trans girls competing in high schools anywhere,” he said, suggesting critics focus instead on “the creepy assistant volleyball coach” liking students’ Instagram posts.

Rowling pushed back with data. She pointed to a U.N. report that found over 600 female athletes lost medals across 29 sports because of trans-inclusion policies. She also highlighted the case of Payton McNabb, a high school athlete who suffered a concussion after a trans-identifying male spiked a volleyball during a game.

“Time and again, I’ve faced men making the same arguments as Oliver,” Rowling wrote. She criticized the repeated use of familiar talking points. “With a straight face, the ‘believe the science’ guys will say, ‘Actually, we don’t yet have enough data to say whether men and boys are stronger and faster than women and girls.’”

Rowling’s response ended with a sharp critique. “If you’re fine with females suffering injury, humiliation, and lost opportunities to support an elitist ideology, that’s your choice,” she said. “But maybe rethink using sexual predation against young women as a punchline for your ‘edgy’ joke.”

It’s clear Rowling isn’t here to play nice, especially when fairness and safety are on the line.