Scots author sacked for backing JK Rowling

Author Gillian Phillip was fired for tweeting support for JK Rowling in her row with Trans activists

Glasgow-born children’s novelist Gillian Philip has been removed from the team that produces books under the pen-name of Erin Hunter after she tweeted #ISTANDWITHROWLING in support of the Edinburgh-based Harry Potter author.

Rowling last month retweeted an article referring to “people who menstruate” and questioned why the story did not use the word “women”. She was subsequently accused of being transphobic.

In a statement, Philip, who is one of several authors writing under the name Erin Hunter on popular animal fantasy series including Warrior Cats, Survivors and Bravelands, said: “I am disappointed that the hard work and professional attitude I have brought to my work for HarperCollins and for Working Partners counted for nothing in the face of an abusive mob of anonymous Twitter trolls.

“It is concerning that my concerns about women’s legal rights and spaces have been presented as ‘transphobia’, and that this accusation has been allowed to stand by my former employers.”

The “fiction packaging” company where Ms Philip works, Working Partners, which commissions books in series aimed at older children, had received angry tweets from people calling for her to be fired.

@PhoenyxN wrote: “Fire and denounce Gillian Phillip. Warriors has a large, young, LGBTQIA+ fan base and this is horrific to see coming from one of the people associated with the books in any way. Please fire her and make sure to never hire another person like her again.”

Chris Snowdon, managing director of Working Partners, said: “Erin Hunter is not a single person but a diverse team of creatives and writers. We recently became aware that Gillian Philip had associated the Erin Hunter pen-name with her personal views on Twitter, thus associating them with the whole collective.

“In light of this situation, the decision was taken to no longer work with Gillian Philip. The decision taken was not in direct response to the nature of Gillian’s personally expressed views.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director