Daniel Radcliffe has been publicly critical about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's transphobic views on several occasions, and he's further addressed the issue in a new profile interview with The Atlantic.
"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," Radcliffe told the publication.
When Rowling's several anti-trans comments were making headlines circa 2020, Radcliffe issued a statement via the LGBTQ+ suicide prevention organization he supports, The Trevor Project. In the statement, he stressed his support for the transgender community, and expressed his hope that LGBTQ+ people who had found solace in the Harry Potter series would be able to hold onto that despite the author's personal views.
"I’d worked with the Trevor Project for 12 years and it would have seemed like, I don’t know, immense cowardice to me to not say something," the actor explained to The Atlantic.
"I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments. And to say that if those are Jo’s views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the Potter franchise."
Radcliffe's Harry Potter costars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint also condemned Rowling's comments at the time, which predictably drew commentary from both sides of the "debate."
"There’s a version of 'Are these three kids ungrateful brats?' that people have always wanted to write, and they were finally able to. So, good for them, I guess," Radcliffe commented.
"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."
Asked about comments Rowling made on social media about Radcliffe not being able to "apologize" to her because he had "cosied up" to the trans rights movement, the actor told The Atlantic, "I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that."
On Twitter, people praised Radcliffe for standing firm in his beliefs.
"oh that's on Daniel Radcliffe our childhood crush!!" wrote one person.
"Daniel Radcliff [sic] continues to be an awesome human and we god damn appreciate him," said someone else.
"Props to Radcliffe for sticking to his principles and supporting what he believes in, no drama needed," commented another.
