Are there really people out there who don’t know about the controversy surrounding Harry Potter??
JK Rowling has gone from a beloved children’s author, who wrote a series about the return of fascism and standing up against oppression… to one of these terminally online people who make hating trans people their whole personality. It’s been sad to watch, but there’s been no way to avoid hearing about it. She won’t let you!
And yet, that seems to be the story Keira Knightley is trying to sell. She recently joined the cast of the new star-studded audio book editions of the book series; she’ll play draconian teacher Dolores Umbridge. While she was speaking to Decider, doing promo for another project late last week, they asked her about the controversy:
“Are you aware that some fans are calling for a Harry Potter boycott, given J.K. Rowling’s ongoing campaign against trans people?”
A great many former fans have pledged not to buy any more HP merchandise or watch the forthcoming HBO series as they don’t want to give Rowling any more money — which she has been using to fund anti-trans organizations.
Related: JK Rowling Reveals What Emma Watson Said PRIVATELY Amid Transphobia Controversy!
So what does Keira think? She answered:
“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.”
Yes, Rowling might think all trans people are deranged lunatics who shouldn’t be allowed to exist, while they disagree, but we’re sure they’ll find a common ground there, right?
Needless to say, fans were NOT here for Keira’s claims of ignorance OR for her implication that everyone is equally to blame. Over the weekend and into this week, they made their feelings heard loud and clear! Here are some of the strongest reactions to her comments:
“Go away Keira Knightley. Would you tell Black people they have to learn to live with racists? Gay people with homophobes? I do not believe for a second you had no idea about Rowling. Judas.”
“funny how the ‘people needing to figure out how to live with each other’ is always the oppressed group and never the party that started all in the first place”
“Getting really sick of this ‘different opinions’ excuse when the truth is you stand for nothing or for something you shouldn’t”
“cishet rich white woman says oh u guys still care about that trans stuff? 🙁 aw”
“You CANNOT co-exist with bigots who want you dead.”
“Funding transphobia to remove trans people from every day life isn’t a ‘difference in opinion’ JK Rowling actively funded to have trans people removed from public spaces that match their gender”
“Yeah it’s pretty hard to live with people who don’t think you should exist?”
“And with that, I’ve lost respect for Knightley. We don’t have to learn to respect bigots – of any flavour. Bigotry isn’t a difference of opinion, nor must it be accepted”
“Booooo I wish I could unwatch her last Netflix movie”
“This is why we chose Natalie”
That last one! Ha!
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Joe Alvarez/Warner Bros/YouTube.]