Harry Potter author J K Rowling has finally broken her silence over her absence from the HBO Max special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. The author of the books that spawned the successful movies revealed that she was, in fact, invited to join the show but chose to stay out of it simply because it was not something she wanted to do.
“I was asked to be on that and I decided I didn’t want to do it,” she told host Graham Norton during an appearance on his Virgin Radio UK show, reported Deadline. The writer clarified that she was not excluded from the reunion. “I thought it was about the films more than the book, quite rightly, that was what the anniversary was about.”
She then added, “No one said don’t [do it]… I was asked to do it and I decided not to.” It was earlier assumed that Rowling wasn't made part of the reunion special due to her problematic take on transgender women and the backlash she received for it. Several of the Harry Potter stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have opposed Rowling’s views and made public statements against them.
Earlier, Radcliffe had written an essay condemning Rowling’s views saying “transgender women are women.” Watson took to her social media to stress that “trans people are who they say they are," opposing Rowling’s uninformed stance. The British author has since not backed down from her views and even doubled down on what she said by penning an entire essay as a justification. She has also vehemently denied being "transphobic".
The HBO Max reunion special premiered on January 1 and featured all of the key players that made the Harry Potter movies a success.
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