J.K. Rowling recently broke her silence about not being a part of the Harry Potter reunion special that premiered earlier this year. During her appearance on Virgin Radio Saturday, the author explained why she wasn’t featured in the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which debuted on January 1 on HBO Max along with the lead cast.
Speaking to host Graham Norton, Rowling explained that her absence wasn’t because she was not invited to it. She said, “I was asked to be on that, and I decided I didn’t want to do it. I thought it was about the films more than the books, quite rightly. That was what the anniversary was about. No one said don’t [do it]…I was asked to do it and I decided not to”, via People.
Many believed that Rowling’s absence from the reunion special was on account of her controversy following the transphobic tweets that were called out by the Harry Potter films’ cast as well. In the recent interview, the author also commented on her relationship with social media, particularly addressing the recent death threat she received from after tweeting about Salman Rushdie. She said, “I try to behave online as I would like others to behave… I’ve never threatened anyone.”
The author received massive backlash online in 2020 after she appeared to support anti-transgender sentiments in a series of tweets. Though she denied that her views on feminism are transphobic and also expressed in detail her controversial opinion in an essay published on her website.
