J.K. Rowling has explained why she was absent from the "Harry Potter" reunion special, saying that she "didn't want to do it."
Rumors emerged that the author behind the "Harry Potter" books had been deliberately excluded from HBO Max's "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" because of her controversial remarks about the trans community. However, in an interview with Graham Norton on Saturday, Rowling dismissed the speculation, explaining that she chose to skip the event.
"I was asked to be on that," she said. "I decided I didn't want to do it. I thought it was about the films more than the books, quite rightly." She added, "No one said, 'Don't.' I was asked to do it, and I decided not to."
Last year Rowling posted several controversial tweets that drew widespread backlash and had her labeled as "transphobic." In one of the tweets, she took issue with a headline that used the phrase "people who menstruate," instead of "women." The headline was inclusive of transgender people.
" 'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling tweeted.
She then defended her stance on the transgender community in a lengthy blog post, a link for which she shared on Twitter along with the words "TERF wars." TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. Critics have given that title to the author.
In response, "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe addressed the ordeal in a blog post written for the nonprofit Trevor Project.
"Transgender women are women," he wrote. "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 [Rowling] or I."
Speaking with Norton, Rowling noted that she still had a relationship with the young actors in "Harry Potter" despite the controversy.
"I mean, some more than others, but that was always the case," Rowling said of the stars. "You know, some I knew better than others."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.