JK Rowling “doesn’t care” if her controversial comments impact her “legacy”.
The Harry Potter author, 57, has been accused of transphobia for a series of comments but has now insisted she isn’t bothered that her legacy will be tarnished because anyone who cares about their legacy is “pompous” in her eyes.
Speaking on the first episode of her new podcast The Witch Trials Of JK Rowling, she insisted: “I do not walk around my house thinking about my legacy. You know, what a pompous way to live your life walking around thinking, ‘What will my legacy be?’ Whatever, I’ll be dead.
“I care about now. I care about the living.”
Rowling caused outrage after she liked a tweet that referred to trans women as “men in dresses”, and faced online attacks and death threats since she bemoaned the loss of references to biological women in 2020.
The writer took issue with an online article’s mention of “people who menstruate” by tweeting: “‘People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
However, in the trailer for the podcast, she insists her comments were “profoundly” misunderstood, and it was never her intention to “upset anyone”.
More recently, she accused Nicola Sturgeon of being a “destroyer of women’s rights” after the politician’s SNP and the Scottish Labour Party backed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which passed through the Scottish Parliament in December and allows Scots to self-identify their legal gender.
Rowling was criticised by transgender campaigners for wearing a T-shirt bearing the “destroyer” message and posted a picture of herself wearing the top online.
Among those who have since hit out at the author over her remarks are Harry Potter actors including Daniel Radcliffe, 33, and Emma Watson, 32, as well as Eddie Redmayne, 41, who featured in her Fantastic Beasts films.
The author’s latest comments on the backlash come after the video game Hogwarts Legacy sparked controversy by adding the first transgender Harry Potter character.
The introduction of Sirona Ryan, a barkeep at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, came amid the Rowling transgender row.
Although it’s not stated in the game if Sirona is transgender, one piece of dialogue about an encounter with a goblin called Lodgok suggested as much.
Sirona says: “I’ve known (Lodgok) for years. We met when I was waiting tables here as a student – well before I bought the place.
“He was cordial enough, but we weren’t friends then. His mistrust of wizardkind ran deep… Hadn’t seen him in years when he came in a few months ago. But, he recognised me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. Took them a second to realise I was actually a witch, not a wizard.”
Warner Bros Games has insisted Rowling is “not directly involved”, though her writing has provided the “foundation” for the title.
The much-discussed role-playing title – which just broke a Twitch streaming record for the most concurrent viewers – was released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Feb 10.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One follow on Apr 4 and Nintendo Switch players will have a while longer to wait with a date set for Jul 25.
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