“We apologise for any offence”: Duolingo issues an apology after customer crashes on calling J.K. Rowling mean

Duolingo has issued an apology after a German lesson on their app seemingly called J.K. Rowling "mean". The company has also asserted that it will remove the content in question.

Notably, Duolingo is a language learning app that is popular across the world. On August 19, 2025, a user named Gaby Koppel shared a screenshot of one of her German lessons from the company's app on X (formerly Twitter). During the lesson, a question read in German:

“Magst du die ­Bücher mit Harry Potter als Figur? [Do you like books with Harry Potter as a character?]”

The correct answer read:

“Ja, aber meiner Meinung nach ist die Autorin gemein. [Yes, but in my opinion the author is mean.]”

Screenshot as shared by the X user (Image via X/@Gabykoppel

Alongside the screenshot of this lesson, Gaby Koppel wrote on her X account on Tuesday:

“Shame on you @duolingo: learning German and I came across the sentence ‘Yes I like Harry Potter but the author is mean.’ How woke do you have to be to let trans ideology infect a language lesson?”

Duolingo responded to the post in the comments on Wednesday, writing:

"We apologise for any offence caused and will remove this content from the app."

Screenshot from Duolingo and Gaby Koppel (Image credits: X.com/@GabyKoppel and @duolingo)

At the time of writing, J.K. Rowling had not responded to the post.

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J.K. Rowling re-ignites feud with Nicola Sturgeon

In 2022, Scottish minister Nicola Sturgeon tried to push legislation to create a self-identification system for people who wanted to change genders. The UK government had blocked that move. Back then, J.K. Rowling had protested against Sturgeon's ideas and even worn a shirt that called her a “destroyer of women’s rights.”

On August 11, 2025, Sturgeon released her memoir named Frankly. J.K. Rowling shared a post on X on July 20, offering British newspapers her services to review the book before it hit the stores. On August 12, however, she posted:

"Thank you for your many kind offers, of which there were a considerable amount. Watch my website for my review of ‘Frankly’, the memoir of Scotland’s (checks notes) most persecuted, misunderstood, self-critical, open-to-debate, feminist-to-her-fingertips ex-First Minister."

On the same day, she shared a couple more posts about Frankly. First, she shared the image of the book, writing:

"Annotating as I read to review. Might auction my scribbled-on copy, proceeds to go to @ForWomenScot. NB: nobody who’s offended by swearing should bid."

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald" UK Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals (Image via Getty)

She then shared an image of a part of the book where she had scribbled:

“Are you f***ing kidding me???”

She wrote in the caption:

"Pages 108-9, in which our heroine opines on the need to make the ‘public sphere’ safe for women and girls."

Rowling reviews Frankly (Image via X/@jk_rowling)

Sturgeon has not responded to these posts yet.

J.K. Rowling, meanwhile, has been in controversy over the years for her takes on trans rights. The author also faced backlash from actors from the Harry Potter series.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, said in 2020:

“transgender women are women…Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations”.

Meanwhile, Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, tweeted in 2020:

“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”

Nick Frost, who is set to play Rubeus Hagrid in the upcoming Harry Potter TV adaptation, also slammed Rowling for her views.