9 hours ago
J.K. Rowling's Involvement With Harry Potter Series
The controversy around J.K. Rowling's involvement in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series is, honestly, a constant at this point. It's arguably overshadowed anything else about the series.
This is mostly because the author has spent the majority of her post-Harry Potter career spending time — and money — essentially pushing back against the mere notion of trans rights.
As a result, the series itself has become a hotbed of discourse and criticism. Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan recently took to IG to speak out against the author, the show, and the recent UK Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that a "woman" in equality legislation should be defined as referring to a "biological woman and biological sex."
As the show's casting has been slowly unveiled, those who are set to appear on it have also become inevitably snared in the conversation. Paapa Essiedu — who, as of this moment, is booked to portray Severus Snape in the series — was one of many British actors who signed an open letter supporting trans rights in response to the Supreme Court ruling, which caused J.K. to deny rumors that he'd be fired from the show for doing so.
Last month, HBO CEO Casey Bloys addressed the situation on a recent episode of The Town podcast, saying that "the decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us. We've been in business for 25 years...I think it's pretty clear those are her personal political views. She's entitled to them. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter."
When a fellow Twitter user asked her point-blank if she's writing for the show itself, she replied, "No, but I've worked closely with the extremely talented writers."
Make of that what you will!
