HBO Doubles Down on Including J.K. Rowling in ‘Harry Potter’ TV Reboot Amid Backlash From Trans Activists

The chief content executive for HBO is doubling down on including author J.K. Rowling in the production of a highly anticipated new “Harry Potter” TV show, despite fierce backlash from trans activists who object to her views on gender issues.The chief executive at HBO and the newly dubbed Max, formerly HBO Max, Casey Bloys, said that including Ms. Rowling in the process is not a conversation that “we’re going to get into.”“J.K. is an executive producer, and her insights will be helpful,” he said. “We are in the Harry Potter business.”When asked at a press conference about the decision, Mr. Bloys said, “I don’t think this is the forum,” adding that it’s “a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into.”The dismissal came after a day of backlash from trans rights activists who clashed with supporters of Ms. Rowling online. Ms. Rowling has made multiple statements in recent years that there are fundamental differences between genders, has criticized terms such as saying “people who menstruate” rather than “women,” and has stated her reservations about biological men entering women’s bathrooms. Her critics have called her “transphobic” and labeled her a so-called TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist.One entertainment podcaster, Dave Gonzales, tweeted, “Ten years of a Harry Potter series with Rowling as executive producer is just ten years of press events dragging her anti-trans agenda back into the news cycle.”A “Harry Potter” dedicated outlet, Wizarding News, tweeted Wednesday announcing that it was going to organize a boycott of HBO, Max, and Warner Brothers Discovery “for willfully enabling and supporting JK Rowling’s intolerable cruelty and bigotry against LGBTQ people.”Out Magazine, a publication that covers LGBTQ issues, tweeted in response to the announcement, “We don’t want any new Harry Potter content if noted transphobe J.K. Rowling is involved.”Mr. Rowling did receive some support from conservative-leaning publications such as Rebel News and the Daily Wire, which praised her for refusing to “cave to the woke mob.”Ms. Rowling herself has remained quiet on the topic, despite her historical outspokenness about transgender rights issues. Mr. Bloys has said that he and the show’s producers are going to focus on creating a faithful adaptation of the books.“Our priority is what’s onscreen,” Mr. Bloys said. “The Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive about love and acceptance, and that’s our priority, what’s on the screen.”

HBO Doubles Down on Including J.K. Rowling in ‘Harry Potter’ TV Reboot Amid Backlash From Trans Activists

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