Overview

• J.K. Rowling published a nearly 3,000-word, profanity-laced review of Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly on its launch day at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
• The critique cites the 2023 Isla Bryson prison placement as evidence of self-identification risks and brands Sturgeon’s televised response a “complete f***wit.”
• Rowling accuses Frankly of glossing over major controversies, including vanished pandemic WhatsApp messages, CalMac ferry procurement failures and Scotland’s record drug-death rate.
• Outlets across the UK have republished Rowling’s arguments, drawing attention back to Scotland’s scrapped Gender Recognition Reform and the Supreme Court’s ruling that ‘woman’ refers to biological sex.
• Sturgeon continues to defend the principle of gender self-ID, expresses regret for not pausing the legislation to seek compromise and reports no policy reversals.