Actor Sean Biggerstaff, known for his role as Oliver Wood in the “Harry Potter” films, has denounced author J.K. Rowling as “bigoted” and an “obsessed billionaire” for her continued comments on transgender rights.
Mr. Biggerstaff’s criticism follows Ms. Rowling’s social media celebration of a recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling affirming that the term “woman” in the 2010 Equality Act refers exclusively to biological females. The author reportedly helped fund the campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought the case.
After the ruling, Ms. Rowling shared a photo of herself smoking a cigar aboard her superyacht, raising a glass in cheer. When some claimed she was “smoking a blunt,” meaning a joint, she replied that it was “objectively, provably and demonstratively a cigar.”
Mr. Biggerstaff shot back, saying she’d lost her sense of humor: “Bigotry rots the wit.”
He also endorsed another account’s comparison between Ms. Rowling and influencer Andrew Tate, noting the cigar imagery echoed Mr. Tate’s style, which critics argue promotes violence against women.
Ms. Rowling further shared an image of For Women Scotland co-directors Susan Smith and Marion Calder celebrating, writing, “Don’t fk with Scottish women.”
Mr. Biggerstaff, a Scotsman himself, responded: “The majority of Scottish women, who don’t agree with these [jerks], aren’t being bankrolled by an obsessed billionaire.”
Mr. Biggerstaff is the latest in a growing list of “Harry Potter” cast members who have spoken out against Ms. Rowling’s public stances.
Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, posted on Twitter, now X, in 2020: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
And Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the series, hit back at Ms. Rowling in an essay for LBTQ support group The Trevor Project around the same time, insisting that transgender “women are women.”
• Emma Ayers can be reached at eayers@washingtontimes.com.
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