What the Morgan-Rowling Twitter spat is all about

Call it a clash of egos, but author J.K. Rowling and British TV celebrity Piers Morgan have been at each other's throats on Twitter, with Rowling being cheered for her point-blank retorts.

Rowling is known to come up with drop-the-mic responses to trolls. Morgan, on the other hand, has a habit of instigating those he trolls, and has been involved in spats with others, too.

It all started with Morgan's comments on an American TV show, Real Time with Bill Maher. On the show, discussing Trump's immigration ban, Morgan reportedly said, “Calm down,” that there was “no Muslim ban”. This triggered other panellists, including Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, to assert that there was in face a “Muslim ban”. Jefferies, in particular, slammed Morgan and told him off.

Rowling took to Twitter to express how “satisfying” it was to watch Morgan being told off.

Morgan said that this was why he had “never read a single word of Harry Potter”.

Their interaction then snowballed into a two-day conflict that involved Morgan saying that she was “dismissive and arrogant” and Rowling calling him a “celebrity toady”.

While all this was happening, Morgan's son, Spencer, tweeted a photo of his Harry Potter-themed tattoo, in a bid to cool things down between the two. He tagged his father and Rowling, saying, “Well this is awkward”. Spencer's tattoo was the Deathly Hallows symbol, representing the Cloak of Invisibility, the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone.

Spencer was praised for his timely tweet that neutralised the situation, albeit for only a day.

Yesterday, Rowling's tweet confused Morgan into insulting himself. She shared a screenshot of an article that Morgan had written for Daily Mail, which was titled, “The 100 British celebrities who really matter by Piers Morgan”. He ranked Rowling at 97, along with a favourable write-up about her skills and her personality. Rowling said, “Could the writer let me know who he is? I'd love to thank him!”

But Morgan, who might not have read the tweet or the photo correctly, thought she was trying to publicise another fan praising her. Which is why he said, “Priceless humblebrag...Nobody plays the celebrity game more abusively or ruthlessly than you.”

When Twitterers pointed out that the article was written by him in 2010, he then followed it up with a cover-up statement saying he “knew what it was”.

After this, Morgan tweeted links to a YouGov poll ranking who was preferred better, that ranked Rowling above him. Rowling was preferred 55% while Morgan only 9%. “Who wants to win the popular vote these days, anyway?” he asked. He also called the polls a “lie, as we discovered with Brexit & Trump.” According to reports, YouGov had predicted that the outcome of Brexit would be to “Remain”, and that Hillary Clinton would be elected president of the United States.

Rowling uses her fan following to voice out her concerns and her liberal views on political matters, including Trump's ban. According to Morgan, she “lost” the debate “like she usually does”.

While Morgan is still sly-tweeting about the spat and responding to Rowling's supporters' tweets, she has moved on to talk about other political matters.