JK Rowling sets the record straight on why she didn’t attend HBO Max’s Harry Potter New Year’s Day reunion special. It’s been 20 years since the first film adaptation of Rowling’s wizarding books hit cinemas, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts with franchise stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, although Rowling herself only appeared via old interview footage.
While it was speculated that the British author had been left out of the thesis due to an outcry over her controversial remarks about trans women – views that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have publicly made clear they do not share – Rowling reveals in a new interview that she was the one who turned down the opportunity.
Speaking to Graham Norton on Virgin Radio in the UK on Saturday, the author said she opted out because the thesis was focused on the films rather than the book series that inspired them.
“I was asked to be on it and I decided I didn’t want to do it,” she told Norton. “I thought it was about the movies more than the books, rightfully so. That’s what the anniversary was about.
“Nobody said ‘don’t come,’” she clarified. “I was asked to do it and I decided not to.”
When she is asked if she is still in touch with Harry Potter actors, including those who have expressed disapproval of her comments about sex and gender, Rowling said: “Yes – some more than others.” She noted that she had always been closer to certain stars, but she did not name any in particular.
She also turned to social media, where her tweets have sparked heated debate in recent years. Rowling has also been vocal about receiving online threats, including one who recently warned her she would be “next” after she shared her horror at the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie.
“I try to behave online the way I want others to behave,” she told Norton. “Of course I never threatened anybody. I certainly wouldn’t want anybody going to their houses or anything like that.”
Rowling shared that she has a “love-hate relationship” with social media. It can be “hilarious” at times, but while she appreciates the “pub argument aspect” of it, the author noted that “there’s no doubt that social media is a gift to people who want to behave in a malignant way.”