JK Rowling has reignited her feud with Nicola Sturgeon as she blasted her new autobiography in a ‘review’ posted on social media.
The author and gender critical activist posted a picture of scribbled-on pages of ‘Frankly’, which was released this week, on X in a continuation of their long-standing clash over the issue of transgender rights.
On one page, she scrawled “Are you f***ing kidding me???” over a page where she accused Ms Sturgeon of “opining on the need to make the ‘public sphere’ safe for women and girls”. It comes after years of tension between the pair during heated rows over Scotland’s approach to trans rights.
In a post on X, Ms Rowling wrote: “Annotating as I read to review. Might auction my scribbled-on copy, proceeds to go to @ForWomenScot. NB: nobody who’s offended by swearing should bid.”
While in office, the former first minister doggedly attempted to push through legislation creating a self-identification system for people who want to change gender, which was eventually blocked by the UK government. The ensuing debate partly led to her resignation as first minister in February 2023.
Following the proposed reforms in 2022, Ms Rowling wore a t-shirt calling Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights”. Ms Sturgeon later called for both sides of the debate to “treat each other with respect”.
In her book she recalled the incident, after which she received a barrage of abuse, writing: “It was deeply ironic that those who subjected me to this level of hatred and misogynistic abuse often claimed to be doing so in the interests of women’s safety.”
Annotating as I read to review. Might auction my scribbled-on copy, proceeds to go to @ForWomenScot.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 12, 2025
NB: nobody who’s offended by swearing should bid. pic.twitter.com/sOQOR3uYR8
They have clashed on a number of other occasions, including after the Supreme Court judgement in April that the legal definition of a woman refers to biological sex.
Ms Sturgeon refused to comment on the decision, with Ms Rowling later sharing a social media post including a photograph of the SNP leader in the gym branding her “Pontius Pilates”, an apparent biblical reference accusing her of shirking responsibility.
Speaking about the trans rights row that dominated her final few months in office in her memoir, Ms Sturgeon called it a time of “division and rancour”. She added that while she respected legitimate concerns about women’s spaces, the debate had been “hijacked by voices on the far right”.
“The inconvenient truth”, she argued, is that “many of the most vocal deriders of trans rights, when the surface is scratched, turn out to be raging homophobes too. Some are also racists. And ironically ... more than a few are also deeply misogynist.”
However, she said she would have changed her approach to the issue with hindsight, and that while she still believes in the gender recognition reforms, she wishes she had aimed for more of a consensus on the issue.
