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Credit: Inside the MagicJ.K. Rowling has responded to British icon Sir Stephen Fry’s criticism of her behavior regarding the trans debate during his recent appearance on The Show People podcast.
Fry, 67, a beloved comedian, actor, author, and broadcaster who also narrated the Harry Potter audiobooks, has accused Rowling of being “radicalised” by TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) and the toxicity she’s been involved in, particularly on X, for so long.
Fry, a gay man and an LGBTQ+ rights advocate, and a longstanding and widely respected national icon in the U.K., described Rowling as “a lost cause,” saying, “She has been radicalised, I fear – perhaps by TERFs, but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her. It is unhelpful and only hardens her. I’m afraid she seems to be a lost cause for us.”
“She started to make these peculiar statements and had very strong, difficult views,” he continued. “She seemed to kick a hornet’s nest of transphobia that has been entirely destructive. I disagree profoundly with her on this subject. She says things that are inflammatory, contemptuous and mocking. They add to a terribly distressing time for trans people.”
Though there are many examples of Rowling being involved in heated arguments online, Fry’s comments most likely refer to her celebration of the divisive outcome of the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex earlier this year, after which she shared a provocative selfie holding a cigar and a glass of wine aboard her luxury yacht, which sparked backlash from trans rights activists, including many celebrities:
I love it when a plan comes together.
I love it when a plan comes together.#SupremeCourt #WomensRights pic.twitter.com/agOkWmhPgb
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2025
In 2022, Fry told the Beeb Watch podcast that he wouldn’t “abandon” Rowling or his trans friends, which isn’t the only time he’s implied that the Harry Potter author was his friend.
In his more recent interview, he went on to say of his relationship with her, “I always liked her company. I found her charming, funny and interesting. And then this thing happened – and it completely altered the way she talks and engages with the world now.”
However, unsurprisingly, Rowling has since fired back online, saying in response to someone’s tweet in which they they praise Fry’s comments on X, “It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to have been a friend of mine was ever considered a friend by me”:
It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to have been a friend of mine was ever considered a friend by me. pic.twitter.com/bEtMcRuxQ6
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 22, 2025
Related: HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’: First Look at New Hermione Star in Action, Fans React
So, according to Rowling, the pair were never friends.
However, in his interview, Fry went on to defend against Rowling against the online backlash. Rowling has denied being transphobic, having explained in her own words that making it easier for transgender people to legally transition could have a detrimental impact on access to single-sex spaces and legal protections for vulnerable women.
“To scream ‘transphobe’ at anybody who doesn’t buy into every single aspect of a person’s trans views is self-harming,” Fry said. “It doesn’t get the thing done. You have to let people love you.”
Talking specifically to the trans issue, he said, “When it comes to the transphobia issue, it is right to remind people that trans people are here and that they are hurting. They are being abominably treated. There’s a great deal of bullying, violence, suicide, and genuine agony in the trans community,” Fry said, before later saying,
Who do you believe? Is J.K. Rowling just trying to save face, or has Sir Stephen Fry made assumptions about his relationship with the Harry Potter author?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!