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Official Harry Potter Twitter account turns off comments after Riddikulus tweet about Pride

"Siri, show me 'rainbow capitalism'."

harry potter cursed child
Credit: Warner Bros / Twitter / @CursedChildNYC

An official Harry Potter Twitter account is copping some Expecto Patronum blasts from fans, with a seemingly harmless yet insensitive tweet about Pride Month receiving a backlash so strong it forced comments to be turned off.

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The official Twitter account for the New York production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child celebrated the beginning of Pride Month on Tuesday with a photo of the LGBTQIA+ flag colours splashed over a shot of two characters swimming through the Eye of the Beholder.

In hindsight, it’s a completely harmless photo. The person behind the post may have had good intentions and even be part of the LGBTQIA+ community. But the optics of a social media channel for a Harry Potter product tweeting in support of the queer community and Pride when its creator J.K. Rowling continues to make harmful comments about the trans and non-binary communities is, shall we say, Not Good.

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community called out the post and the irony. Nearly 400 users dragged it before comments were shut down; there’s over 3000 quote tweets but only 700-plus likes. That’s extremely telling.

Fans responded by sharing photos of their pets and characters in front of the trans and non-binary flag. Others quipped that it was particularly audacious for a Rowling-licensed social media channel to have the balls to tweet about Pride.

https://twitter.com/byJudeDoyle/status/1534364350227570688

One fan asked in the replies if the production team planned on giving any of its revenue to LGBTQIA+ charities. They then accused the team of exploiting queer identities during pride for “free advertising”.

https://twitter.com/DamselDystopia/status/1534142496950915072

Another called the tweet an example of “rainbow capitalism”.

Several others posted memes or gifs to the tune of “oh, you just fucked up, huh?”

https://twitter.com/cooIboobs/status/1534152968370638848
https://twitter.com/PopplioPup/status/1534137266876071939
https://twitter.com/ShaneM_Anderson/status/1534133133687132160

Need this be a simple lesson to corporations during Pride. We can all see through your performative activism and rainbow capitalism. Do better.