“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling is reportedly in talks with Warner Bros. Discovery to create a seven-season series based on her books – and trans activists are already planning their boycotts.
No deal has yet been reached, but according to a report from the U.K. publication Metro, the proposed series would air on HBO Max and would dedicate one season to each of the seven books — and Rowling would be involved in the process, likely as a producer.
But critics of Rowling’s personal views on sex and gender — namely that biological sex has value and that biological females should be allowed protected spaces where biological males regardless of their gender identities are not allowed — have already promised to avoid the series altogether.
Wizarding News (@HPANA), an outlet that began in 2002 to report on all things related to Harry Potter and now claims to report on the “demise of J.K. Rowling’s legacy,” dug up a tweet from a year earlier in which they “warned” Warner Bros. about the possible repercussions of working with Rowling in the future.
“Warner Bros. Discovery is officially on notice. If they pursue a continued relationship with JK Rowling, we will continue calling for a boycott of their franchise,” the tweet from May of 2022 read. “You’d have thought the embarrassing failure of Fantastic Beasts would be the end of it, but they want more pain.”
If they buy out Rowling and let other creative forces develop new content, that might work.
But anything that includes JK Rowling in any role whatsoever is a nonstarter. She must be fully excised, and the taint of her bigotry must be far, far away.
— [email protected] (@HPANA) May 21, 2022
They went on to say that they might tolerate a new Harry Potter series if Rowling were bought out and left out of the creative process entirely, adding, “But anything that includes JK Rowling in any role whatsoever is a nonstarter. She must be fully excised, and the taint of her bigotry must be far, far away.”
They brought that tweet back last week as news of a possible deal began to circulate, adding, “Hey @wbd @warnerbros you were already warned about this! Any new Harry Potter TV show made with or by JK Rowling will be met with loud and constant protest. It will not be pleasant, and all of it will be leaked ahead of release anyways,” they warned again.
… and that was *before* JK Rowling defended the leader of a Nazi-supported anti-trans hate rally.
Any purposeful association or relationship with her now is tainted by the fact that she won't disavow this woman.#HarryPotter #JKRvsLGBTQhttps://t.co/Q8sz4WxXZj
— [email protected] (@HPANA) April 4, 2023
Rowling also faced threats of boycotts over the recently released Hogwarts Legacy video game — and some critics even refused to review the game entirely because they opposed her views.