On September 9th, Keira Knightley was announced as one of the voices for the new Harry Potter audiobooks. Exactly one month later, she said she didn’t know that fans are boycotting Harry Potter due to JK Rowling’s repeated transphobic statements. During an interview about her new Netflix movie The Woman in Cabin 10, Decider asked a very pointed question.
Decider: I saw you’re voicing Professor Umbridge in the new Harry Potter audiobooks. Are you aware that some fans are calling for a Harry Potter boycott, given J.K. Rowling’s ongoing campaign against trans people?
Keira Knightley: I was not aware of that, no. I’m very sorry. You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect.
Simon Stone, the director of The Woman in Cabin 10 added his two cents on the subject:
I think that’s right. I think that we have learned over time, unfortunately, that the unbearable voice in the room is something that we should try and shut down. And actually, I think everyone needs to recognize that they’re the unbearable voice for someone else, as well. The live and let live thing of like, “Oh God, your voice is really loud, and I can’t stand you.” That’s part of our lives.
We all have hatred, deep hatred for someone in the universe—someone in the class. Let’s reduce it to classroom politics. There is always the kid that we cannot stand. I think we’d all agree that where that kid for someone else, too. Unfortunately, all sides of the political spectrum are currently trying to shut that kid’s voice down, but they don’t realize the irony of the fact that they’re also that kid for someone else. If we can have all have a moratorium on that, and just let chaos live for a little bit, we might find our way out.