“Warner Bros. Discovery strongly condemns the threats against JK Rowling,” the company said today. “We stand with her and all the writers, storytellers and creators who bravely express their creativity and opinions. WBD believes in freedom of expression, peaceful speech and supporting those who offer their views in the public space. Our thoughts are with Sir Salman Rushdie and his family following the senseless act of violence in New York. The company strongly condemns any form of threat, violence or intimidation where opinions, beliefs and thoughts may differ.” On Friday, Rowling tweeted a message about Rushdie, who was attacked on stage at a speaking event. “I feel very sick right now. Let him be well,” Rowling wrote. One Twitter user responded with a threat. “Don’t worry you’re next.” Rowling took to Twitter directly with the message: “Any chance of some support?” Rowling later thanked her supporters and said “the police are involved” as she claimed she had been threatened previously. Rushdie has been weaned off a ventilator and is talking, according to reports. The man who attacked him is being held without bail in New York and faces charges of attempted murder. Rushdie, the author of the novel The Satanic Verses, received a death threat issued in 1989 by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Rushdie was accused of “insulting Islam” in his novel. The death threat had a $3 million reward and Rushdie subsequently went into hiding when it first came out. More recently he has relaxed his security, which may have led to the attack last week.
