JK Rowling has hit back after Vladimir Putin compared himself to the author, in an astonishing rant claiming the West was cancelling Russia.
She lashed out in response this afternoon, saying: "Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics. #IStandWithUkraine."
The Russian president cited the Harry Potter author as an example of what happens in the West, adding that it likes to cancel people and compared that with cancelling Russia.
The Harry Potter author has been widely condemned for her comments and viewpoints surrounding transgendered people in recent years.
Putin said Ms Rowling was cancelled "just because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights".
Speaking in Russia to a video-call meeting with officials and cultural workers he said: "They are now trying to cancel our country.
"I'm talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia."
He went on to liken "cancel culture" as the same as Nazis trying to burn books in the 1930s.
He added: "We remember the footage when they were burning books.
"It is impossible to imagine such a thing in our country and we are insured against this thanks to our culture.
