Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is a transphobe. Maybe someone could let Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad know that that should be called out and condemned.
As Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports, Haddad was asked in an internal Q&A today about the widespread criticism of Rowling over her public and toxic transphobic views, which have been condemned by everyone up to and including Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Given the fact that WB is currently working on a big new Harry Potter game, his answer may not surprise you:
Not a lot I can comment on, other than, since we did get so many [questions], I wanted to be responsive the best way I could.
The way I think I’d like to do it is, I’d like to echo something you’ve heard from our most senior executive leadership.
While JK Rowling is the creator of Harry Potter, and we are bringing that to life with the power of Portkey, in many places, she’s a private citizen also. And that means she’s entitled to express her personal opinion on social media. I may not agree with her, and I might not agree with her stance on a range of topics, but I can agree that she has the right to hold her opinions.
Schreier adds that, “Later in the Q&A, Haddad answered a question about diversity/inclusion by adding that WB Games is working with LGBTQ rights orgs and that he spent an hour and a half talking to the director of trans media representation at GLAAD. No mention of Rowling or Harry Potter there.”