Daniel Radcliffe has described Harry Potter author J.K Rowling’s trans views as “really sad.”
The child actor insisted that his beliefs don’t have to align with the author’s just because she made him famous.
The 58-year-old faced backlash from several of the franchise’s movie stars after she shared controversial opinions and remarks about trans people in June 2020.
Her most recent disagreement with Daniel started after she called out an article that used the phrase “people who menstruate” instead of women.
The author wrote: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Shortly after, Daniel penned an article for an LGBT+ suicide prevention charity that said “transgender women are women.”
In an interview with The Atlantic this week, he said: “I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that.”
“Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
He added: “It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”
The author recently took a swipe at Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, and said they can “save their apologies”.
In April, the author of the hit series addressed their criticism of her harmful views on the transgender community, and suggested she won’t “forgive them.”
Daniel, who played the lead character in Harry Potter, wrote an essay for The Trevor Project in support of the trans community, apologising “for the pain” the author’s comments caused.
Emma, who played Hermione Granger, also wrote: “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”
On Wednesday night, Rowling took a pop at Daniel and Emma after an X user wrote to her: “Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them.”
Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them …
— Adam Harris #FarRightHooligan (@StAustellAdam) April 10, 2024
The author replied: “Not safe, I’m afraid. Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”
