Two queer women directors, Ally Pankiw and Kate Herron, recently revealed that they turned down opportunities to direct episodes of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series because of the transphobic views of its billionaire author J.K. Rowling.
In an Instagram post posted yesterday, Pankiw (who has directed episodes of the comedic series Shrill and The Great and the 2023 film I Used to Be Funny) shared an image of a text message exchange with her agent in which the agent asked, “I have an instinct on the answer but I feel compelled to ask. Harry Potter? Hard no?”
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“Absolutely f**king not!” Pankiw responded, adding, “lol… (But thank you for asking).” Pankiw wrote in the image caption, “It simply is this easy to say ‘no’ to funding transphobia.”
In the comments of Pankiw’s post, Herron (who has directed episodes of Loki, Doctor Who, Sex Education, and The Last of Us) wrote, “They’ve asked me twice and I’ve had to explain my answer is never going to change from a ‘no.’”
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Pankiw acknowledged Herron’s comment, writing, “Also want to shout out the amazing @herronthatkate who also said ‘no’ … twice! And that’s actually hard!”
The directors’ refusal to work with Rowling stands in opposition to actors who have taken roles in the upcoming series.
Actors Bel Powley and Paapa Essiedu — who play the boy wizard’s aunt Petunia Dursley and potions professor Severus Snape, respectively — have both made public statements in favor of trans rights. Actor Nick Frost, who plays the half-giant groundskeeper Hagrid, said his opinion differs from Rowling’s but added that she is entitled to her own. Actor John Lithgow, who plays headmaster Albus Dumbledore, has said Rowling’s views didn’t factor into his decision to act in the series; he has alternately called her views “ironic and inexplicable” and also “twisted and misrepresented.”
Regardless of their feelings, the series will help make millions for Rowling, which she uses to fund her anti-trans social battles.
J.K. Rowling uses her fortune to fund anti-trans legal attacks
Rowling has used her vast wealth, mostly accumulated through the success of her Harry Potter franchise and its many multimedia spinoffs, to personally fund legal cases aimed at diminishing rights and protections for transgender women in the U.K. and Ireland.
A spokesperson for Rowling confirmed that the author’s JK Rowling Women’s Fund (JKRWF) has been quietly operating since late 2024, managing “her ongoing financial support for legal cases involving women’s and girls’ sex-based rights.”
The fund is just her latest effort to end trans women’s rights in the U.K. In February 2024, she pledged a £70,000 (about $89,000) to For Women Scotland (FWS), the anti-trans organization behind the legal challenge that resulted in the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling that excluded trans women from the country’s law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
Since late 2024, she has also used JKRWF to offer financial legal support to cisgender women who “have lost their livelihoods or are facing tribunals” due to their anti-trans beliefs, as well as individuals and organizations that are “being forced to comply with unreasonable inclusion policies regarding single sex spaces and services, or female-only clubs and events” or “are challenging legislation which takes away the freedoms or protections [cisgender] women are entitled to.”
Rowling will serve as an executive producer for HBO’s series. Casey Bloys, HBO’s gay CEO, has repeatedly dismissed concerns about her toxic transphobia, saying that Rowling is “entitled” to “her personal political views,” ading, “If you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.”
According to The Guardian, the Harry Potter franchise is worth an estimated $25 billion. In a May 28 Bluesky post, British barrister Jolyon Maugham wondered how much of Rowling’s fortune would be spent “oppressing a minoritised group she doesn’t like.”
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