Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling came under fire last year for her insensitive comments towards the transgender community, prompting a lot of the franchise’s stars to come forward and address the situation in their own right. Among them was Ron Weasley’s Rupert Grint, who showed support for the group and slammed the novelist’s prejudiced views.
Ever since Rowling’s transphobic letter made the rounds online, people have generally taken up a bristled attitude towards her work in fiction as well. In fact, many Potterheads decided to outright disown the story of the Boy Who Lived, further condemning the writer’s controversial sentiments about the queer community.
To stop any more damage to the franchise, or out of concern for what it stands for, as they’d describe it, most prominent cast members of the Wizarding World turned their backs on Rowling and came forward with wholesome statements, including the three main leads in the Harry Potter series: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
Of course, the whirlwind of controversy has mostly died down since then, but the stars still find themselves in the awkward position of having to address it every now and again. Take Grint, for instance, who was recently asked to talk about the matter in his interview with Esquire, though to his credit, the answer was more uplifting compared to the last time he spoke about it.
“I am hugely grateful [for] everything that she’s done. I think that she’s extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius. But yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that,” he said.
The actor later discussed why he rebuked the author in the first place, noting that while he’s not an expert, he understands the discrimination that the minority has to bear. In his own words:
“Sometimes silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to. I mean, I don’t want to talk about all that… Generally, I’m not an authority on the subject. Just out of kindness, and just respecting people. I think it’s a valuable group that I think needs standing up for.”
Tell us, though, what are your thoughts on the Harry Potter star’s remarks? Sound off below.