J.K. Rowlingis staying true to character regarding her feelings about transgender athletes participating in women’s sports, and this time she’s coming down onLast Week TonightHBO talk show hostJohn Oliver. TheHarry Potterauthor has never been one to mince words about this issue, and she is staying completely on brand by ranting at Oliver over his support of trans athletes not posing a threat to women in sports.
Rowling took to herX pageto respond to a recent segment that was featured onLast Week Tonightin which Oliver showed support for transgender athletes participating in women’s sports and went on to say that they don’t"pose any threat to safety or fairness.“In part, Oliver said:
“There are vanishingly few trans girls competing in high schools anywhere. Even if there were more, trans kids, like all kids, vary in athletic ability and there is no evidence they pose any threat to safety or fairness.” The late-night host continued by saying, “Finally, if you genuinely want to address the biggest concern for most girls who play high school sports, you’d be less worried about this and more about the creepy assistant volleyball coach who keeps liking their posts on f*cking Instagram.”
Rowling responded in a very lengthy post on her social media, where she complimented Oliver by calling him an"undoubtedly intelligent person"before moving in on insults by saying he"spouts absolute bulls***.“The author has been the subject of much criticism for making comments that many have seen as being anti-trans, but she has never backed down from her position, something she doesn’t do in her response to Oliver. Rowling said in part:
“Again and again I’ve come up against men who argue exactly what Oliver does here, using the very same talking points. With a straight face, the ‘believe the science’ guys will say ‘actually, we don’t yet have enough data to say whether men and boys are stronger and faster than women and girls.’ The ‘be kind’ crew can’t see what the issue is.”
J.K. Rowling Has Been Steadfast in Her Disapproval of Transgender Women
Rowling’s brand has certainly been affected in some way since her views regarding transgender women began going public in 2017. The three primary performers from theHarry Pottermovies,Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have all come out against Rowling’s anti-trans rhetoric. The author has evenpushed back on themand hasn’t been too kind in her responses to the individuals she once treasured. To say those relationships have been fractured would be a vast understatement.
HBO Solemnly Swears That J.K. Rowling’s Involvement in Harry Potter Series ‘Hasn’t Affected’ Staff
HBO CEO Casey Bloys says controversial author J.K. Rowling’s involvement in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series has not had an impact on development.
Some thought Rowling’s views would affect futureHarry Potterprojects moving forward, but that hasn’t seemed to be the case. When theHarry PotterTV series was announced for HBO last year, Rowling’s involvement was made clear, which resulted in some fans threatening a boycott. Despite the threats to push back on anythingHarryPotter-related should Rowling be involved, HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, and CEO David Zaslav havecontinued to work with her, signaling profits for the studio might be more important than her controversial anti-trans speech.
