Daniel Radcliffe reopens ‘sad’ war with JK Rowling over trans debate & says he doesn’t owe her for making him a star
DANIEL Radcliffe has reopened a “sad” war with JK Rowling over the trans debate and said he doesn’t owe her for making him a star.
The Hollywood actor has reignited a fiery feud with the popular British writer.
The 34-year-old actor and fellow Harry Potter stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have been outspoken in their support of gender ideology.
The row between Radcliffe and Rowling erupted after the author criticised an article for using the term “people who menstruate” instead of simply “women”.
Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person
Daniel Radcliffe
She wrote: ‘I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’
Rowling’s stance against allowing biologically male trans women in women’s spaces sparked sharp criticism.
In response, the Harry Potter star claimed his support for transgender women sparking a public and heated disagreement between the two stars.
He penned an article for an LGBT+ suicide prevention charity and slammed “transgender women are women”.
Radcliffe has now confessed “nothing in my life” would have happened if not for author Rowling.
But he also clarified that didn’t mean he doesn’t owe the author “the things he truly believes”.
He told The Atlantic: “I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that.
“Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person.
“But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
Despite the row, he is saddened by the heated situation with the writer.
He added: “It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”
HEATED ROW
Rowland previously suggested she may not forgive Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for their opposing stances on the transgender debate.
The Harry Potter author posted a string of comments on X, formerly Twitter, in the wake of a report by Dr Hilary Cass into gender services in Britain.
The review found teenagers have been permitted to change gender based on “remarkably weak evidence”.
In response, JK Rowling posted on X that Dr Cass had conducted the “most robust review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that’s ever been conducted”.
She added: “Kids have been irreversibly harmed, and thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media and cynical corporations”.
In 2020, Rowling faced backlash for outlining her position on the reality of biological sex.
She wrote: “I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”
Several Harry Potter film stars – Watson and Radcliffe among them – made public statements about the transgender debate after the author made her stand.
In a landmark review, published on Wednesday, Dr Cass says that the “toxicity” of gender debate meant that professionals were “afraid” to discuss their views openly.
The review was commissioned by NHS England in 2020 and examined gender identity services for under-18s.
It comes as Wes Streeting dramatically ditched his hardline gender stance, admitting it was a mistake to insist that all trans women are women.
The Shadow Health Secretary, speaking to The Sun’s new politics show Never Mind the Ballots, told host Harry Cole that he did not stand by the claim that “trans women are women, get over it”.