By now, fans of the “Harry Potter” books, films, and overall franchise are likely well aware that J.K. Rowling, the author of the series, is no ally to the trans community and has been rather public, defiant, and unwavering about many of her bigoted and hateful transphobic comments over the last few years. Rowling’s attacks on the trans communities have been going on for years now. And while she and “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe have sparred somewhat in the press, a new round of sharply-heated Rowling remarks have inspired the actor to speak out against her again.
In a new interview with The Atlantic, while Radcliffe said he’s not had any direct contact with Rowling throughout any of the public dramas between them, he’s heartbroken about it, especially since the person he met years ago and her work is full of empathy.
“It makes me really sad, ultimately,” he said, “because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”
It’s a deep irony, indeed, that the ‘Potter’ works are inclusive, welcoming, and openhearted, and Rowling’s views on the trans community are anything but.
Radcliffe also said the British press has taken seeming much glee at firing shots at him and “Harry Potter” castmates Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who have also been very vocally supportive of the trans community.
“There’s a version of ‘Are these three kids ungrateful brats?’ that people have always wanted to write, and they were finally able to. So, good for them, I guess,” he explained. “Jo, obviously ‘Harry Potter’ would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person. But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
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These comments are the first time Radcliffe has fired back since 2020. That year, he support for the transgender community by backing the Trevor Project, an American nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.
“I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now,” he wrote at the time, adding “transgender women are women.”
If Rowling has seemingly doubled down on her transphobia over the last few years, well, it appears that Radcliffe has done the same in the support.
“It would have seemed like…immense cowardice to me to not say something,” Radcliffe says about the notion of not speaking out, especially given he had already supported the Trevor Project for 12 years. “I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments. And to say that if those are Jo’s views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the ‘Potter’ franchise.”
Rowling declined to speak to the Atlantic for the article, but given how vocal she is on social media, one presumes her own statement might be forthcoming.