Has J.K. Rowling Won the Culture War?

After years of backlash over trans issues, the Harry Potter author has received major business backing

- RYAN SMITH

IT IS AN UNLIKELY RETURN reminiscent of Harry Potter, "The Boy Who Lived", himself (or the Dark Lord Voldemort, depending on your opinion). J.K. Rowling, author of the globally adored fantasy series who in recent years became a pariah in some quarters over her views on transgender people, appears to have just won the culture war she has been fighting for the past five years.

Since 2019, Rowling has sparked impassioned debate-and backlash over her statements on trans women and insistence on using male pronouns to describe them. The British-born writer has publicly supported women who question the legitimacy of trans women's gender identities and has dedicated much of her feed on X, formerly Twitter, to speaking out on the issue.

Celebrities condemned her statements, social media users labeled her views "disgusting" and activists branded her a "TERF"-a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. Conversely, she has also received an outpouring of support for her stance, with "#IStandWithJKRowling" trending intermittently on social media whenever the debate resurfaces.

Now, long after Rowling had accepted she might have irreparably tarnished her legacy, she finds herself firmly back in the fold. Warner Bros. Discovery, the entertainment behemoth bringing her Harry Potter franchise back to screens as an HBO TV show, stated in November that not only will it be working with her on the project, it sees no reason to wade into the furor over her trans-related utterances.

HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys said at a November 12 press event that Rowling was "very, very involved in the process selecting the writer and the director," and added that Rowling's trans statements "haven't affected the casting or hiring of writers or productions staff" for the show.