He Hasn't Changed: J.K. Rowling Shames Malcolm Gladwell for 'Weathervane' Shift on Trans Athlete Issue

The last time we told you about Malcolm Gladwell, he was asking Conde Nast some hard questions after the company sacrificed Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond to the woke mob.

Now Gladwell is back, and he's backtracking his stance on trans athletes.

We'll start with the story from Douglas K. Murray, who calls Gladwell a coward:

Malcolm Gladwell admits he lied about trans athletes because telling the truth destroyed careers. ⁦@nypost⁩ https://t.co/OMwrGnQvie

— Douglas Murray (@DouglasKMurray) September 5, 2025

Here's more:

Could you be persuaded to say something you knew not to be true?

Most of us would probably say “Absolutely not. Never.” But the evidence is that even a small amount of social pressure can make grown adults say things they know to be untrue.

Take the case of Malcolm Gladwell. The Canadian-born author has had most of the good fortune that life can bring. His received opinions have gained him lucrative positions at liberal publications. His books have become international bestsellers. In fact, many authors might look in envy at the fact that some airport bookshops seem to have a whole Malcolm Gladwell section.

...

Appearing on a podcast called “The Real Science of Sport,” Gladwell referred to the vexing question of born males competing in women’s sports.

For most of us, this was always a no-brainer. It was obvious that someone who has been born a male, gone through male puberty and has all the physical advantages of being a man should be kept well clear of women’s sports. Otherwise women’s sports cease to be women’s sports, thousands of young female athletes would train hard for no reason and women’s sports would simply become a division of men’s sports for men who can’t succeed against their male peers.

Gladwell says he finds the arguments for men competing in women’s sports to be unconvincing.

But at a panel in 2022, he said that men should indeed be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

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Gladwell says he felt 'cowed' into supporting trans athletes, and that careers were destroyed for doing so.

J.K. Rowling was having none of this, and torched Gladwell:

Gladwell’s career wouldn’t have been destroyed if he’d spoken out against the glaring unfairness, not to mention dangers, of allowing men to compete in women’s sport. He’d have faced loss of approval from the cultural elite and received activist blowback, and even that wouldn’t… https://t.co/WnAIf98k5l

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 5, 2025

The entire post reads:

He’d have faced loss of approval from the cultural elite and received activist blowback, and even that wouldn’t have come with the tsunami of death and rape threats women face when they speak.

Non-famous people, mostly women, girls and gay people, have genuinely had their careers and indeed lives destroyed for saying what Gladwell was too pusillanimous to say, and Gladwell didn’t lift a finger in their defence. Like many well-known liberals, he was happy to watch members of the great unwashed bullied, traduced and defamed, fine with the erosion of freedom of speech, comfortable with young women being robbed of sporting honours and facing serious injury, because he valued his own standing and security more highly than acting on the feeble promptings of his conscience.

A rash of condescending men will swarm my mentions when I post this to tell me I should be pleased about Gladwell’s cautious backtracking. No. He hasn’t changed. He’s merely sensed a shift in what it’s acceptable to say and feels safe to align himself with the new consensus, excuses for his previous behaviour to the fore. He isn’t an ally, he’s a weathervane.

Changing sides years late, and only after you’ve realised the non-elite opposition is winning, isn’t a mark of integrity but of arse-covering. Those whose overriding focus is remaining in good odour with the in crowd can never be trusted. Gender identity ideology has been the modern arts world’s McCarthyism, and all Gladwell’s done is reveal himself as a man who’d have named names, but felt a bit uncomfortable about it afterwards.