Daniel Radcliffe Says Ignoring J.K. Rowling's Transphobia Would Be 'Cowardice'

Daniel Radcliffe Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Daniel Radcliffe is continuing to condemn J.K. Rowling's transphobic comments. In an interview with the Atlantic published on April 30, the Merrily We Roll Along star said he has not directly spoken with Rowling since the Harry Potter author's anti-trans tweets made her a vocal figure in TERF circles in June 2020. "It makes me really sad, ultimately," he said of Rowling's heavily criticized views. "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 stage and screen actor immediately disavowed her comments at the time, reaffirming that "transgender women are women."

Radcliffe, a longtime supporter of the Trevor Project, a nonprofit advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, felt that ignoring Rowling's transphobia would have been spineless. "I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments," he continued. "And to say that if those are Jo's views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the Potter franchise." Rowling, for her part, continues to share transphobic posts on X, including one from last month, in which she agreed with a user who said Rowling deserves apologies from Harry Potter cast members who criticized her. Addressing Rowling's latest rant in the Atlantic interview, Radcliffe put it plainly: "I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people and have no further comment than that."