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Oh, this is one is sure to rile up the epic battle royale between the Twihards and the Potter-heads. Apparently, the Academy thought it would be a cool idea for the two biggest selling authors in the world – J.K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) and Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) – to present together at this year’s Oscars. Meyer stepped up and said she would do it, with pleasure, while J.K. declined, claiming that she was too busy writing to make the trip to LA. Um… what? Too busy to present at the Oscars?!?
Is there a fantasy writer feud brewing, or is J.K. Rowling just really busy? The Harry Potter author declined an invitation to present an award at Sunday’s Oscars, citing her work on her next book.
Rowling and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer were invited to present the Best Adapted Screenplay prize together, and while Meyer responded positively to the idea, Rowling didn’t find the trip from England worth it.
She wrote on her Web site that the world “won’t be hearing from me often I am afraid, as pen and paper is my priority at the moment.”
Rowland’s decision not to attend comes on the same day as the millionaire reaches another milestone: The Harry Potter books topped the list of “Top 10 Books to Pass On” to future generations by Brits—a full four spots higher than the No. 5 Twilight series (also included where the 9/11 Commission Report and Barack Obama’s memoirs).
[From The Daily Beast]
Now, I’m sure J.K. didn’t mean it as a diss. Well, maybe she did. I wonder if authors who have sold a bazillion books still engage in petty girl fights? Is that what this about? Two professional, rich, accomplished women who the media must report on as if they’re drugged-out starlets fighting for the fifth supporting role in a horror film? Now, even though I don’t like the misogynistic undercurrent, and I seriously doubt J.K. meant anything by declining the offer, I do think it’s rude. I mean, Rowling would have been a best-selling author no matter what, but Hollywood has still made her even richer and more powerful and more well-known, and what’s wrong with being a little gracious and going out of your way to show the Academy some respect?
J.K. Rowling at a London premiere on July 7, 2009. Stephenie Meyer at the ‘New Moon’ premiere on November 16, 2009 in LA. Credit: WENN.
Written by Kaiser
Posted in J.K. Rowling, Oscars, Stephenie Meyer
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55 Responses to “Did J.K. Rowling disrespect ‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer?”
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If she’s got her mojo workin’, I say let her be…This could be something good!!
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Rowling has declined appearances at numerous functions over the years, and she has only made a few trips to the U.S. It’s news if she does make a public appearance.
Seems she prefers to spend time with her family and her writing.
It is not a diss.
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Well I can kind of understand why Rowling might not consider it such an honor to be on the same stage as the Twilight author. I mean Twi books aren’t really lauded at the same literary level. The fact that they’re both very popular with the “youth market” may not be enough for her. I mean here are a few critical comparisons I grabbed from wiki. I honestly don’t think that makes her snobby.
“Despite Twilight’s popularity, the books have received criticism. Stephen King stated, “the real difference [between J.K. Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”[64][65] However, King understood the appeal of the series, adding, “People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls. [...]‘ ”
“Laura Miller of Salon.com wrote that ‘the characters, such as they are, are stripped down to a minimum, lacking the texture and idiosyncrasies of actual people’ [...]“
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I don’t see it as a diss. If she had said “I’m not presenting with that Twilight author” then that would be a diss. But wanting to stay home, be with family, and concentrate on work isn’t. And as fun as the Oscars might be, it would also be really nerve wracking if you’re not someone used to speaking to millions of people and getting scrutinized in a fancy gown.
I’ve actually never read Harry Potter, but did force myself through all the Twilight books, which started out OK but got progressively worse through the series. I think Meyer is lucky it became a pop culture phenomena, because based on the writing alone, it wouldn’t have been that successful, IMO.
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To be fair to JK, the Academy Awards are a back-slapping love-in for a bunch of overpaid egos and only worth watching for the fashion and faux-modesty of recipients. She’s an author who’d made her fortune well before the films were made – and it’s hardly a “diss” on the same scale as when Leonardo DiCaprio had a hissy fit and refused to support Titanic because he wasn’t individually nominated.
And the Twilight books are terrible.
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I don’t read it as a diss, but I doubt that JK’s a Twilight fan. Seems to me that the Harry Potter series has a lot of progressive themes, while Twilight pretty firmly reinforces older tropes.
She’s a writer. An author, not a screenwriter. I’m glad she’s not wowed by the lure of the Oscars, because I want her to continue writing. If she writes good books, then good movie makers will work their magic on them and we all win twice. If an author starts writing BOOKS with MOVIES in mind, typically, the quality of the books drops.
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I beleive I read somewhere that JK Rowling gets very anxious about public speaking and such large public events. Public speaking is a very common fear. If there is any more to this story than what she already has stated, I would guess that this could be the reason. I wish the media would stop pitting hard working and successful women against each other.
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When you’re in the zone writing-wise, the last thing you wanna do is stop for a bathroom break, let alone fly across the world for a two minute presentation.
I honestly doubt JK cares enough about Meyer to diss her.
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@Blitz – I couldn’t have said it better.
Meyers is no way on the same level as Rowling, and I think it’s a diss to even suggest she share the stage with Meyers.
Maybe I am just being harsh because I grew up in Utah and am against the Mormon Church, thus not understanding why it is “okay” for a Mormon to write these *kinds* of books without any backlash from the church… Oh wait, she made a lot of money, 10% of which went to the Mormon Church.. Duh, how stupid of me…
I have boycotted these books and movies.
TEAM TRUE BLOOD!!! Give me blood, sex, and swearing all the way!!!
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It was my understanding that Meyer also turned downed the invite due to the awards program being held on Sunday, which goes against her Morman principles.
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Um, she’s a writer. Her books were selling BEFORE they became movies! She owes the academy nothing.
As for not presenting with Meyer, I don’t blame her. Meyer is a hack, who is an atrocious writer. The quality of her writing is no where close to JK’s (as Stephen King pointed out). Plus the “additions” Meyer made to vampire lore, such as sparkles and biting uteruses, were stupid and gross.
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@Iggles…ITA. She doesn’t owe Hollywood anything – Hollywood made a TON of money off her books. The Oscars are basically a bunch of egotistical assholes fellating themselves and each other, and I don’t blame her one bit for not going. Stephenie Meyer is way more into the spotlight than JK.
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Like Myers, Rowling limits her appearances to one ot two a year, no exceptions.
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Ice Cat, I’ll join you on Team True Blood. MUCH more interesting and fun, and no sparkles.
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well, if they invited SM is just for the ratings, I wouldn´t go either. And she´s writing!!! better that then be on camara for a minute and have to deal with celebrities all night.
And JK is a serious writer, she doesn´t need to go to the Oscar, let alone present something with an amateur (sorry, can´t help it),
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@Iggles. You make a good point. My sister is a school teacher in LA and it was a huge event when J.K. accepted an invite to speak amongst lucky students and teachers (5-6 yrs ago?) in a district wide event. There were a ton of people there. She was VERY impressed with how Rowling engaged the students, mostly speaking directly to them, never losing sight of the fact that the event was primarily for them. Shy or not apparently she’s an extremely good speaker – fluid and well prepared.
And you’re right the students were there because of her books which took off on a MAJOR scale well before the films were made.
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Should the word author and the name Stephanie Meyers be written in the same sentence?
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Team Charlaine Harris!!
I don’t think it was a diss at all. JK has always been a private person more dedicated to her craft and family than PR campaigns. I don’t know much about SM’s personal life, but I do know that her books aren’t even in the same stratosphere as JK’s
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I agree with everybody, this is not a diss from J.K. Rowling. The woman is a serious writer and probably thinks the Oscars is a bunch of nothing wrapped up in sparkles. Besides her writing, Ms. Rowling has three children, two of them very young. Why leave them to fly 11 hours to L.A.? Doesn’t make sense. Meyers can present that silly award by herself.
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It doesn’t matter if she’s presenting with Stephenie Meyer or a bologna sandwich, traveling that far just to present an award is a waste of time.
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I was never a big JK Rowling fan, UNTIL I saw her speech (online at youtube) to Harvard from a few years ago. She was so great! Funny self-effacing, intelligent and insightful….the speech was all about how failure is good for you. If you haven’t seen it, go google it. It’s wonderful!
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lola lola – Cool, I’m going to check it out.
I am a Harry Potter fan. I think JK did an amazing job developing the characters and bring a complex world to life, full of mythology and brilliance.
I love the books way more than the movies. The funny thing is, I was strictly a movie watcher, until the 5th one came out. I saw with some book fans and I wanted to know was left out. I quickly read 5, 6, and 7. Loved it!
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“Meyers is no way on the same level as Rowling, and I think it’s a diss to even suggest she share the stage with Meyers.”
ITA!
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I dont think J.K. Rowling meant to insult anyone. Its just that she is committed to writing right now. When authors get the inspiration to write, they should forget the world around them and write. Thats how great stories are made! I am waiting to read for more from J.K. Rowling.. So I support her decision
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Of course than can be any number of reasons R.K couldn’t attend.
However I’m wondering if there is a sexist factor at play here. Would it play the same way between two male authors, where one was an acknowledged quality writer and the other wasn’t?
“EXTRA! EXTRA! Humorist Mark Twain disses “Toilet Bowl” author Michael Ryan!”
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Stephen King had it right when he said, “Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. … The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”
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To suggest that J.K. Rowling disrespected Stephanie Meyer implies that Stephanie Meyer deserved an ounce of respect in the first place.
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…..and you know some people just don’t give a damn about the Fake Hollywood Backslapping Festival known as the OSCARS.
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Rowling’s breasts look fantastic- that’s really all I take away from this faux feud.
The Twilight books aren’t the great American novels, but hey, anything to get kids reading is great. And I’m psyched anytime an author gets to make some real money!
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I’m a published author and I can tell you that some of us are very competitive and catty. Heck! Most of us are socially retarded introverts, so of course we’re wierd.
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JKR rarely makes public events and I doubt she will fly all the way to LA from SCOTLAND to just present an award. The woman is busy! She has THREE kids and she’s currently writing another novel.
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She doesn’t owe Hollywood anything. They’ve made money out of each other and that’s that. Just because the AMPA calls and asks if you’d like to present it doesn’t mean you have to say yes.
I don’t think her ‘no thanks’ had anything to do with Meyer, but if it did, so what? Happens all the time. If Meryl Streep turned down an opportunity to present with Jennifer Aniston it would be okay too.
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Stephenie Meyer look and dresses like a high school goth chick who never grew up. WTF is up with that shade of lipstick she’s always wearing? And the fakey-fake black hair? Just terrible, little girl, just terrible.
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I CALLED this months ago. Stephenie is the Christina to J.K’s Britney. It’s only a matter of time before they start backhandedly insulting each other in interviews.
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“but Hollywood has still made her even richer and more powerful and more well-known, and what’s wrong with being a little gracious”
Really? Who cares? She did not ask Hollywood to do anything for her and who knows maybe she is busy with something that she would rather not discuss, it is her business. Maybe, she distains Meyer’s tripe and sees it as a Hollywood slight, ever think of that?
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don’t see it as a diss either.
Rowling just leagues ahead of Meyer in writing skills.
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I agree with #35. Actually I read an interview where Rowling said she had wanted to turn down the movie deal at first, but when they offered her extensive control she obliged. Clearly she’s not that concerned with Hollywood, and frankly she shouldn’t be.
She’s very reclusive, so I’m not shocked that she’d turn down the Oscars. I agree with everyone above… Meyer doesn’t deserve to be compared to Rowling, they’re on two completely different planets in terms of writing skill.
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I don’t see it as a diss, personally, but I know other authors have come down on Meyer. Stephen King said of Meyer, “She can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.” I don’t care for Meyer’s books either. I just can’t get into them – and I’ve tried several times. Not my cup of tea, but to each their own. At least they’re getting kids to read, which is always a plus in my book.
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Whooo! Go J.K! She is a REAL author who actually has a IQ higher than 20 and can write her own novels without a thesauris, so she shouldnt degrade herself by being onstage with such a moron as Stephanie i-didnt-even-do-ANY-research-for-my-books Meyer
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Didn’t anyone else hear that Meyer said she couldn’t attend anyway? She’s Mormon and cannot work on Sundays….
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What? That’s not a diss. She just doesn’t seem to do lots of public appearances. And if she is in the middle of giving us another great book to enjoy, I say let her finish writing.
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“but Hollywood has still made her even richer and more powerful and more well-known, and what’s wrong with being a little gracious”
Really? Who cares? She did not ask Hollywood to do anything for her and who knows maybe she is busy with something that she would rather not discuss, it is her business. Maybe, she distains Meyer’s tripe and sees it as a Hollywood slight, ever think of that?
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I agree. Kaiser you should get your fact straight, J.K Rowling was already famous with the Harry Potter books before the hollywood want to turn them into movies, like someone said before, she did reject it before.
She owes Hollywood nothing.
I think it will be an insult for the screenwriter finalists in the Oscar if S. Meyer gets to be the one who read the nomination. why dont get a winner of this category from the past? why pick someone who has terrible books?
I really think it is insulting to pair up J.K Rowling with Stephani Meyer. Meyer is not in J.K Rowling’s league and never will be.
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Oh lord, they both suck so much arse as writers.
I was re-reading Wuthering Heights last night
and thought how violently those characters are still kicking and screaming after two hundred years. And then I thought shit… Harry whatever and whatever it was about teenage celibate vampires. I wonder if their merit will be as enduring. Actually, I wasn’t wondering that, because of course it fucking won’t. Perspective is a beautiful thing.
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JK Rowling is a WRITER, not a Hollywood celebrity or industry professional. She actually might be concerned about not disturbing her creative process.
Furthermore, this might come as a shock to us celebrity gossip-heads
, but Hollywood is not actually the center of the universe, and there’s no reason why people as far away as Scotland should totally interrupt their lives for Oscar night if they’re not into it. We shouldn’t have to invent disparaging catfight stories to make sense of that.
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Uh OF COURSE rich, successful women still diss each other. Why? Well, BECAUSE THEY’RE WOMEN AND THAT’S WHAT WOMEN DO. Seriously, human nature does not change simply because of money or success, in fact that often makes it worse. Haven’t any of you worked for a woman boss? Women are horrendous and will do and say ANYTHING to make another woman feel bad about themselves, no matter their socioeconomic status. Shit, I’m a woman myself and am probably the biggest misogynist in the world because of how these b*tches act all the time. It’s sad but the truth sucks.
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J.K. Rowling, has damn nice boobs!
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Let’s not get too caught up in the hype. Stephanie Meyers is not even close to a good writer, even if you read a modicum of books a year, you recognize that. JK Rowling is far better. The story lines flow better, the dialogue is smooth and realistic, as opposed to Meyer who’s lines are stiff and predictable. It appeals to kids(and adults) whose tastes are not sophisticated to know the difference. But who can argue with success. Never did understand how Danielle Steele made it a living.
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Very nice rack Joanne K Rowling
would love to grab
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wow what a hot milf JK is!
would love to cum between her tits
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I love JK – she didn’t mean disrespect SM, she hardly ever appears in public at all, even in Britain. Why would she fly half way around the world for something as trivial and artificial as the Oscars?
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To suggest that J.K. Rowling disrespected Stephanie Meyer implies that Stephanie Meyer deserved an ounce of respect in the first place.
Amen!!! Too true! Meyers is a horrible author and to even SUGGESt that Jk share a stage with her is an Horrible insult Jk and Meyers aren’t even in the same league. VAMPIRE’S DON’T SPARKLE!!!
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all u ppl hate stephenie meyer and like to express your hate online with mean comments…wow u are pathetic
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Actually Hollywood has nothing to do with the Harry Potter films. The films are British and star a British cast, meaning JK owes Hollywood nothing anyway. If there was any debt it would be to the British Film Industry.
Stephanie Meyer on the other hand owes a lot to the films, because they’ve catapulted her books to many more 12 year olds, screaming over Robert Pattinson than would have been reached before.
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I want to have a deep and meaningful relationship with JK Rowling’s breasts
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THAT’S CAUSE ROWLING DOESNT CARE ABOUT THE GLITZ AND GLAM OF HOLLYWOOD AT ALL.
UNLIKE MEYER WHO MAKES A CAMEO EVERY NOW AND THEN IN THE FILM ADAPTATION OF HER VERY OWN BOOKS ABOUT SPARKLING GAYLORDS.
F U.
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