The broadcaster says he is ‘very happy to go on the record’ and condemn the author’s views.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/imago807882838-scaled.jpg” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”English comedian, director, narrator and writer Sir Stephen Fry pictured during the Honoris Causa ceremony at the KU Leu” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] Despite having a friendly working relationship in the past, with Stephen Fry famously narrating the Harry Potter<\/em> audiobooks, it seems he and the author JK Rowling are no longer on amicable terms. This is in large part due to Rowling\u2019s gender-critical views on trans rights.<\/p>\n \u2018She started to make these peculiar statements and had very strong, difficult views,\u2019 he said while appearing on The Show People<\/em> podcast. \u2018She seemed to wake up, or kick, a hornets\u2019 nest of transphobia, which has been entirely destructive. I disagree profoundly with her on this subject.\u2019<\/p>\n He added, \u2018I am angry she does not disavow some of the more revolting and truly horrible, destructive \u2013 violently destructive \u2013 things that people say. She does not attack those at all. She says things that are inflammatory and contemptuous, mocking and add to a terribly distressing time for trans people.\u2019<\/p>\n Rowling has become a conspicuous<\/span> figure in recent years and an ardent campaigner for women-only spaces, defining \u2018women-only\u2019 as those born female. In April, she publicly celebrated when the Supreme Court ruled that a woman was defined by biological sex under equality law. She had donated \u00a370,000 to the campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought a case against the Scottish government arguing that sex-based protections should only apply to people who were born female.<\/p>\n Rowling was one of the most prominent<\/span> public figures on the ruling, sharing a photograph of her smoking a cigar on social media with the caption: \u2018I love it when a plan comes together.\u2019<\/p>\n It began in 2017 and 2018 when the author liked a series of tweets that criticised the movement to improve rights for, and better support, transgender people (transgender people face increasing rates of discrimination and hate crimes, with one quarter attempting suicide each year) . In 2019, she spoke in defence of British researcher Maya Forstater, whose work contract wasn\u2019t renewed because of transphobic comments she made on social media. \u2018Dress however you please,\u2019 Rowling posted on X. \u2018Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who\u2019ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] In the years that followed, Rowling have become increasingly vocal on the subject. In 2020, she shared an article on her website where she raised concerns about \u2018the new trans activism\u2019 including the effects on female healthcare, education, safeguarding, and freedom of speech, as well as the laws around transitioning. \u2018I want trans women to be safe,\u2019 she wrote. \u2018At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he\u2019s a woman \u2013 and, as I\u2019ve said, gender confirmation certificates may not be granted without any need for surgery or hormones \u2013 then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.\u2019<\/p>\n In response to a petition on trans people\u2019s ability to self-identify in May, the Government said it is \u2018committed to modernising, simplifying and reforming the legal gender recognition process to remove indignities for trans people\u2019 but will \u2018not introduce self-identification as part of these reforms\u2019.<\/p>\n Rowling\u2019s involvement in debating trans rights has invited a great deal of criticism over the years, especially since the Supreme Court ruling. \u2018She has been radicalised, I fear, and it may be she has been radicalised by Terfs [trans-exclusionary radical feminists] but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her,\u2019 Fry continued, referring to the death threats Rowling has received as a result of her views. \u2018It is unhelpful and only hardens her and will only continue to harden her, I am afraid. I am not saying that she not be called out when she says things that are really cruel, wrong and mocking. She seems to be a lost cause for us.\u2019<\/p>\n Suggesting that their relationship had come to an end, Fry added, \u2018I am sorry because I always liked her company. I found her charming, funny and interesting \u2013 and then this thing happened and it completely altered the way she talks and engages with the world now.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018She has crowed at the success of legislation in Scotland and elsewhere declaring things about gender,\u2019 the actor and broadcaster continued. \u2018So I am very happy to go on the record to say that I am really angry about that. My view about all things of a sharp and difficult nature is that it is much more important to be effective than to be right.\u2019<\/p>\n Fry is not alone in his public condemnation of Rowling\u2019s views. The three lead actors in Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, have all spoken out in defence of trans rights, distancing themselves from the author. In an interview with The Atlantic<\/em> last year, Radcliffe described the \u2018rupture\u2019 in his relationship with Rowling as \u2018really sad\u2019. He had previously issued a statement through the LGBTQ+ suicide-prevention group, the Trevor Project, saying, \u2018Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.\u2019<\/p>\n Watson also signed a pro-trans open letter along with 400 other industry professionals opposing Rowling\u2019s stance ahead of the Supreme Court ruling in May. She also shared an Instagram Story which reads, \u2018To the person who said they like me best when I am not ranting about politics: I like me best when I am not ignoring fascism.\u2019<\/p>\n Grint has also said, \u2018I stand firmly with the trans community,\u2019 and emphasised that \u2018trans women are women\u2019 with posts on social media.<\/p>\n Given how public the fallout between the three actors and Rowling has been, the author seemed to mock them last month when an X user asked her, \u2018What actor\/ actress instantly ruins a movie for you?\u2019. She responded, \u2018Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>IMAGO<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The broadcaster says he is ‘very angry’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11181"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11201,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11181\/revisions\/11201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘She seems to be a lost cause for us.’ \u2013 Stephen Fry<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]