J.K. Rowling comes out in support of 'Harry Potter' series

Los Angeles, June 23 (IANS) Author J.K. Rowling is stepping in to lend her support to HBO‘s ‘Harry Potter’ series. As the series nears a production start date, J.K. Rowling took to her X to give the series her full-blown support.

She confirmed that she’s “worked closely with the extremely talented writers” on the show, although she will not be getting any writing credits herself like she has on the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movies, reports ‘Variety’.

Rowling wrote on her X, “I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO ‘Harry Potter’ series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD (sic)”.

As per ‘Variety’, HBO made it clear from the beginning that Rowling would be involved in some capacity with bringing her iconic literary series back to life on screen, this time as a television series, where each book is set to cover one season of TV. Network CEO Casey Bloys previously told reporters that Rowling was “very, very involved in the process” of selecting showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod to lead the charge on the ‘Harry Potter’ TV series.

Rowling has courted controversy since 2020 for regularly sharing beliefs on social media that many believe are transphobic. The author also uses platforms like X to regularly troll her critics and take aim at public figures such as slamming John Oliver’s comments on trans athletes.

Both HBO and the new ‘Harry Potter’ cast have received backlash for getting into business with Rowling due to her anti-trans posts. Bloys has said that Rowling’s anti-trans statements “haven’t affected the casting or hiring of writers or production staff” for the show. He appeared on ‘The Town’ podcast in May and stressed to “Harry Potter” fans that the network’s upcoming series will not be “infused” with Rowling’s controversial views on the transgender community.

--IANS

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