Forget the horrific warfare crimes — Russia is getting a foul rap in Ukraine due to the identical misguided “cancel culture” that attacked JK Rowling, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Friday.
“They canceled Joanne Rowling, the children’s author — her books are published all over the world — because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights,” Putin insisted in a televised rant, utilizing the “Harry Potter” writer’s authorized title.
Similarly, “They’re trying to cancel our country,” he stated of critics — who’ve dared to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has left an estimated 1000’s of Ukrainians and Russians useless.
Rowling has been criticized for her statements about transgender folks and has been known as a TERF — a trans-exclusionary radical feminist — by critics.
But if Putin thought he’d discover an ally in Rowling, he was mistaken.
The writer tweeted in response Friday, “Critiques of Western cancel tradition are probably not greatest made by these at the moment slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkraine.’’
Critiques of Western cancel tradition are probably not greatest made by these at the moment slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkrainehttps://t.co/aNItgc5aiW
— J.Okay. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2022
She included within the submit a photograph of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny — who was beforehand poisoned, allegedly on orders from Putin, and simply landed a nine-year jail sentence for what Navalny says are trumped-up fraud expenses.
Putin added of the alleged unjust bias in opposition to his nation, “I’m talking about the progressive discrimination [against] everything to do with Russia — this trend that’s unfolding in a number of Western states.”
The Russian despot even griped that Western motion pictures don’t do sufficient to credit score the Red Army for its function in preventing the Nazis throughout World War II.
“In Hollywood, they made films where the country that defeats the fascists was the United States,” he stated. “They just cancel the contribution of the Red Army.”
Putin likened this “canceling” to Nazi Germany, the place the fascist authorities burned books and destroyed artwork that didn’t help the official narrative.
“It’s impossible to imagine such a thing in our country,” Putin stated of Russia, the place 58 journalists have been killed since 1992 and opposition politicians wind up jailed, shot or poisoned.
The international locations of NATO and the European Union have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia after Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and obvious focusing on of civilians. The restrictive measures embody journey bans and asset freezes focusing on the Russian elite.
Russian conductor Valery Gergiev additionally was fired from the Munich Philharmonic in Germany in the course of the early days of the warfare when he refused to converse out in opposition to the Kremlin. Gergiev is reportedly personally shut to Putin.
