Harry Potter Star Rupert Grint Shares His Take On JK Rowling Controversy

The Harry Potter franchise remains one of the largest in the world, with a seemingly relentless grip on its fanbase, and an ability to draw in newcomers like pretty much no other. However, the past two years or so have seen a huge shift in the way many people view the wizarding world, due to transphobic views spouted by creator and author JK Rowling, with many fans up and abandoning the series altogether.

Thankfully though, not everyone involved with Harry Potter is transphobic, and many of the cast, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have all done nothing but show support for the transgender community in wake of the controversy. In a recent interview with The Times, Grint has spoken more about his feelings towards Rowling in regards to her views, and as you’d imagine, it’s complicated. 

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He revealed that although he doesn’t agree with her views, he still sees Rowling as family: “I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie. It’s a tricky one.

“I think that she’s extremely talented, I mean, clearly, her works are genius - but yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that.”

Rowling’s controversy has snowballed rapidly - it first began with her tweeting out her support for Maya Forstater, a woman who’d lost her job for posting a series of tweets questioning government plans to let people to declare their own gender. Then, in June 2020, Rowling went on to publish an incredibly harmful essay, in which she expressed concerns that trans activism could in some way harm cisgender women, and has generally just become even more vocal about her views on Twitter since.

Grint first expressed his support for the transgender community after Rowling published her essay. Speaking to The Times, he said: “I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women, Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”