The stars were out in force last night for last night’s premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – including divisive author JK Rowling.
Rowling took to the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall in a navy dress with a silver trim and matching cape. She finished off her look with silver pumps and statement silver earrings.
However, her appearance comes amid a storm of controversy regarding the famous author’s comments about the transgender community.
Rowling initially came under fire for her tweets mocking an article about “women who menstruate.”
"I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling wrote.
Despite denying that she was transphobic – and claiming that she “knew and loved trans people”, Rowling has since gone onto criticise the Scottish government’s proposed amendments to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which would make it easier for people to legally change gender.
She also took aim at the Scottish police over a change to their guidance laws, which would make it possible for rapists to self-identify as women.
“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman,” she wrote on Twitter.
Most controversially, she was accused of inciting transphobia over making the villain in her latest Robert Galbraith novel a cisgender man who fetishises women’s clothing and dresses up as women to trick his victims.
She has since faced backlash from the trans community and from Harry Potter’s own stars, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
At the 2022 Baftas Awards earlier this month, Watson seemed to make a dig against the author as she presented the award for Outstanding British Film.
Watson was introduced by host Rebel Wilson, who said: “She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch."
“I’m here for all of the witches," Watson quipped in response.
Rowling’s appearance wasn’t the only controversy surrounding the Fantastic Beasts premiere.
Though stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Katherine Waterston and even Tom Felton attended the event, star Ezra Miller was noticeably absent: he was arrested in Hawaii on Monday and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after allegedly assaulting people at a karaoke bar.
