Peeved J.K. Rowling Slaps the Daily Mail with a Libel Suit

By Kelly Faircloth  |  January 31, 2014 | 5:00pm
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When troubles arise in the world of Harry Potter, wizards cast charms. Rich celebrities, on the other hand, summon fleets of very well-paid lawyers. Hence J.K. Rowling has just sued the Daily Prophet Daily Mail for libel. Expelliarmus!

That’s according to the Guardian. It seems Rowling is none too pleased about an article from September, titled, “How JK Rowling’s sob story about her past as a single mother has left the churchgoers who cared for her upset and bewildered.” (Print version: “How JK Rowling’s sob story about her single mother past has surprised and confused the church members who cared for her.”)

I don’t think J.K. Rowling and the Frankly Quite Hurt Church Ladies was the Casual Vacancy followup anyone wanted.

The Mail has taken the piece down, but according to Rowling & Co., the story took an essay she’d written about her days as a single parent and pretty much went to town. The resulting piece was “premised on a false picture” of Rowling’s comments, she claims:

Her court filing states that she had not “accused her fellow churchgoers of ‘stigmatising’ or ‘cruelly taunting’ her.” Instead, “she had referred to a single occasion involving a woman who had visited the church one day whilst she was working there.”
It further states that a woman quoted in both versions of the story had neither been “upset” nor “bewildered” and claims that the Mail had been “misleading and unfair” by accusing Rowling of “making knowingly false statements”.

The Daily Mail did not respond to the Guardian with a comment.

Let’s hope she writes a novel about a newspaper next.

Photo via Getty

 
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