Here we go again, folks! The magical world of Harry Potter has a new saga and this one’s happening off-screen. J.K. Rowling, the famous author behind the boy wizard, is back in the spotlight with a new controversy. And this time, her beef is with David Tennant, the actor who played Barty Crouch Jr. in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and who is also known for his role in “Doctor Who.”
J.K. Rowling has taken to Twitter, or ‘X’ as it’s now known (because apparently, letters are cooler than words now), to slam Tennant. Tennant, who is a vocal advocate for transgender rights and the father of a transgender son, delivered a speech at The British LGBT Awards where he threw shade at anti-LGBTQ+ activists like Kemi Badenoch. Badenoch, for those not in the know, is a conservative British politician who is notoriously anti-trans.
In his speech, Tennant didn’t hold back, calling for common sense and human decency as the foundations of Pride. He even suggested that people like Badenoch “shut up.” Well, that was enough to ruffle Rowling’s feathers.
Our favorite author-turned-controversy-magnet responded on social media with a zinger: “But the utterances of the Gender Taliban receive special dispensation, for they are a holy caste,” she posted. Ouch! That line certainly packs a punch, doesn’t it?
Not one to let things slide, she followed up with another post: “This man is talking about rape survivors who want female-only care, the nurses currently suing their health trust for making them change in front of a man, girls and women losing sporting opportunities to males and female prisoners incarcerated with convicted sex offenders.” Oh boy, if you thought this feud was over, think again.
In case you’re wondering, USA TODAY has reached out to Tennant’s reps for his side of the story, but so far, radio silence.
And Tennant isn’t the only “Potter” star who has butted heads with Rowling. Remember Daniel Radcliffe? The boy who lived has also spoken out against Rowling’s views. Speaking to The Atlantic, Radcliffe said, “It would have seemed like, I don’t know, immense cowardice to me to not say something.” He emphasized that his own work for LGBTQ+ rights, like with The Trevor Project, stands in stark contrast to Rowling’s comments.
Radcliffe added, “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.” Well, that’s putting it rather diplomatically, don’t you think?
Rowling has also made it clear she’s not interested in making amends with her critics. When a fan wondered if she would ever forgive stars like Radcliffe and Emma Watson, she shut down the idea with,
