--- title: J.K. Rowing Gets in Twitter Fight With Scottish Lawmaker description: J.K. Rowling and Scottish Parliament member Natalie McGarry got into a heated Twitter feud. canonical: https://time.com/4198886/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-28T21:49:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:29:26.255Z og:title: J.K. Rowling Got In a Twitter Fight With a Scottish Parliament Member og:description: Tis the season for Twitter arguments og:url: https://time.com/4198886/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16bd234397c8c0c4/69887b2c5f570fa6d7b1f65e/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Lumos Fundraising Event Hosted By J.K. Rowling og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: J.K. Rowling Got In a Twitter Fight With a Scottish Parliament Member twitter:description: Tis the season for Twitter arguments twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16bd234397c8c0c4/69887b2c5f570fa6d7b1f65e/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # J.K. Rowling Got In a Twitter Fight With a Scottish Parliament Member > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Dylan Kickham / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Dylan Kickham / Entertainment Weekly Jan 28, 2016 9:49 PM UTC  J.K. Rowling attends the Lumos fundraising event hosted by J.K. Rowling at The Warner Bros. Harry Potter Tour on November 9, 2013 in London, England. J.K. Rowling attends the Lumos fundraising event hosted by J.K. Rowling at The Warner Bros. Harry Potter Tour on November 9, 2013 in London, England. David M. Benett/Getty Images by [Dylan Kickham / Entertainment Weekly](https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Dylan Kickham / Entertainment Weekly Jan 28, 2016 9:49 PM UTC Twitter feuds all around. The day after [Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, and Amber Rose took over Twitter](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/27/kanye-west-wiz-khalifa-twitter) with a highly publicized exchange of insults, J.K. Rowling found herself in a war of words with Glasgow East Parliament member Natalie McGarry. The feud is pretty densely packed – drawing on themes of misogyny, trolling, and even Scottish independence – but it involves three parties: [Rowling](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling), who is well known for [opposing Scottish independence](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10891509/JK-Rowlings-anti-Scottish-independence-statement-in-full.html); [McGarry](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry), a member of Glasgow East Parliament and former activist for the Scottish National Party; and [@BrianSpanner1](https://twitter.com/BrianSpanner1), an anti-Nationalist Twitter account that has been battling McGarry [since at least early 2014](https://ahdinnaeken.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/oh-dear-2-a-game-of-spot-the-difference-for-natalie-mcgarry/). Rowling noticed a tweet that McGarry posted on Thursday, calling out the author for defending “abusive misogynist trolls,” and asked for an explanation. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692786594739257345) McGarry responded by simply stating the name “Brian Spanner,” whom McGarry has battled over Scottish independence (their disagreements have escalated into [more personal attacks](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry/status/692774469698469888)). > [](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry/status/692787666325225472) The tweet that McGarry referenced is one in which Rowling called @BrianSpanner1 “a good man” in October 2015. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/649916909887033348) Rowling and McGarry went back and forth for a few tweets as the_Harry Potter_ author demanded evidence that she had ever supported misogyny or abuse, while McGarry claimed Rowling’s positive tweet to @BrianSpanner1 was evidence enough. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692796570278969344) Finally, McGarry cited the actual tweet from October 2015\. Rowling responded by saying she was praising the account for donating to her charity, Lumos. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692798795583787008) However, McGarry then accused Rowling of bullying. > [](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry/status/692795583216623616) The feud continued in similar fashion… > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692802403977072641) Finally, the war of words came to an end when McGarry said she had to get on a plane to which Rowling responded, “We’ll have to take this offline.” But instead, the two made up after McGarry apologized … at least for a little while. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692802917615718400) > [](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry/status/692807099248721920) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692808561819283457) McGorry then tweeted a screenshot of the comments in question. > [](https://twitter.com/NatalieMcGarry/status/692809124749393921) Rowling responded in exasperation: > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692809526362427393) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692809725742817280) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692810080086007809) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692810277608407042) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/692810386593181698) _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/1/28/jk-rowling-natalie-mcgarry-twitter) _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4198886/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4198886/jk-rowling-scottish-parliament-twitter-fight/"},"headline":"J.K. 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