Brian Cox defends JK Rowling in anti-trans tweets

Brian Cox challenges JK Rowling’s critics.

The “Succession” star addressed the concept of free speech as she defended “Harry Potter” creator Rowling despite her repeated anti-transgender social media rants.

“Actually, I don’t like the way they treat him.” I think you’re entitled to your opinion, you’re entitled to say what you feel,” Cox said on the British talk show “Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg” (via Metro UK). “As a woman, you have the right to say how you feel about your own body. No one can say it better as a woman. So, I feel like people have been a bit high and mighty with JK Rowling.”

“Harry Potter” actor Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the franchise, previously called Rowling’s backlash “appalling.”

“JK Rowling wrote these great books about empowerment, about young children finding themselves as people,” Fiennes told The New York Times. “It’s about how you become a better, stronger, more morally focused person. The verbal abuse directed at him is disgusting, shocking.”

Fiennes continued: “I mean, I can understand a point of view that might be angry about what he’s saying about women. But this is not some obscene, über-right fascist. Only a woman says: “I am a woman and I feel like a woman and I want to say that I am a woman.” And I understand where he’s coming from. Although I’m not a woman.”

“Harry Potter” alumnus Daniel Radcliffe previously told IndieWire that Rowling’s comments did not reflect his own beliefs about equal rights.

“The reason I really, really felt the need to say something was because, especially since ‘Potter’ ended, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who have identified in a big way. With Potter, Radcliffe said. “And seeing them hurt that day, I felt like I wanted them to know that not everyone in the franchise feels that way. And that was very important.”

Warner Bros. defended its continued collaboration with Rowling, saying in 2022 that the production studio had “enjoyed a creative, productive and full collaboration with JK Rowling over the past 20 years. He is one of the world’s most accomplished storytellers, and we are proud to bring his ideas, characters and stories to life at the studio now – and for decades to come.”

Rowling wrote the seven bestselling “Harry Potter” books before launching the “Fantastic Beasts” prequel series. The author has been criticized for a number of anti-trans comments over the years, most recently in March 2022 in relation to proposed amendments to Scotland’s gender recognition reform proposal. Rowling co-wrote “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and had final approval on the scripts. Despite not attending HBO’s “Harry Potter” 20th anniversary special, Rowling walked the red carpet at the recent “Fantastic Beasts” premiere.