BBC News anchor praised by JK Rowling for rejecting what was on teleprompter while on-air

JK Rowling has praised a BBC News anchor for rejecting a term on her teleprompter during a live report.

Martine Croxall was citing a study on heat-related deaths amid the heatwave in Britain. When mentioning the groups who should be cautious in the hot weather, Croxall initially read the term ‘pregnant people’, however, she paused and amended the line to ‘women’.

She said: “London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has released research which says that nearly 600 heat-related deaths are expected in the UK.

“Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, said the aged, pregnant people - women- and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.”

A clip from this part of the broadcast went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and the terminally online author weighed in on the apparent rejection of gender-neutral language by Croxall.

Responding to the incident, the Harry Potter author, who now uses her platform to criticise the transgender community, said: “I have a new favourite BBC presenter.”

The gender-neutral term came directly from the study’s authors rather than the BBC, which does not have specific guidelines on the use of gender-neutral terms, according to The Times.

However, the BBC News style guide does encourage the ‘appropriate language’ when reporting on a person’s gender, including whichever pronouns are ‘preferred by the person in question, unless there are editorial reasons not to do so’.

After the on-air moment began doing the rounds on social media, the journalist issued a response on X, writing: "A huge thank you to everyone who has chosen to follow me today for whatever reason. It’s been quite a ride…".

Croxall's on-air term ‘correction’ has divided opinion, with some users taking it as an opportunity to speak out against those who identify as transgender or non-binary.

Earlier this year, Rowling spoke out against three Harry Potter stars who signed an open pro-transgender letter following a recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court.

On April 16, judges in the UK stated that the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex, outlining that a person who was not born as a biological female could not obtain the legal protections the Act affords to women by changing their gender with a Gender Recognition Certificate.

As per BBC, the Act still provides transgender people with protection against discrimination.

Eddie Redmayne, 43, who played Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts films, Katie Leung, 37, best known for portraying Cho Chang in the Harry Potter flicks and Paapa Essiedu, 34, set to star as Severus Snape in the magical HBO reboot, were among the famous names to sign the open letter.

On Saturday (May 3), Rowling called out her colleagues who decided to sign the letter in an essay posted to social media.

“In light of recent open letters from academia and the arts criticising the UK’s Supreme Court ruling on sex-based rights, it’s possibly worth remembering that nobody sane believes, or has ever believed, that humans can change sex, or that binary sex isn’t a material fact."