• J.K. Rowling implied in a recent tweet that women are the only people who menstruate, and numerous celebrities have called her out for being transphobic. 
• “Harry Potter” stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung (who played Cho Chang) have joined stars like Jameela Jamil and Jonathan Van Ness in condemning the author. 
• Radcliffe, who starred in the movies, penned a heartfelt essay for the Trevor Project’s website in which he emphasized, “transgender women are women.” 
• And Leung shared links to numerous trans-focused charities on her Twitter, including a GoFundMe for two homeless Black trans women. 
• Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood, also denounced Rowling in a lengthy statement posted to Twitter, but discouraged fighting about the controversy on social media. 
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

J.K. Rowling has been criticized by numerous celebrities for implying that women are the only ones who menstruate in a recent tweet, and now former “Harry Potter” stars like Daniel Radcliffe are condemning the author. 

Rowling tweeted out a link to an article about creating a more equal world for people who menstruate on June 6, and included a controversial opinion about the phrasing, saying, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Numerous users called out the post for being transphobic, pointing out that trans men can menstruate, as can gender non-conforming and non-binary people.

They also pointed out that it erased the lived experiences of women who don’t menstruate, which can be the result of things like menopause or health conditions like endometriosis.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of people, including celebrities like Jameela Jamil and Jonathan Van Ness, denounced the “Harry Potter” author’s controversial statements and offered their support for the trans community. And now, stars of the “Harry Potter” movies (and the series’ spin-off play) are speaking out, too. 

Here are seven “Harry Potter” stars who have condemned Rowling for her problematic comments. 

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• “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling came under fire again recently for a string of tweets and writing that many felt confirmed her to be a TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist, and made her transphobic.
• Following the comments people started to joke that other popular figures like Britney Spears or even Daniel Radcliffe had actually penned the wildly popular “Harry Potter” novels — a meme format that originated with Minecraft where fans try to protect their favorites by shifting authorship from a canceled person to someone else. 
• Some, however, argue that jokingly attributing the books to a different figure fails to force people to confront problematic elements of the books themselves.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling has come under fire again recently for a string of tweets and an essay that led to many labeling her as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, or TERF. A statement she published in order to explain her “reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues” only increased vitriol as she continued to espouse controversial rhetoric trans identity. Celebrities, and “Harry Potter” actors like Daniel Radcliffe, called her out, with many calling her tweets transphobic. 

After her initial series of tweets on June 6, another strain of discussion emerged as people were driven to divorce the author from her beloved work. Twitter was soon filled with claims that a variety of pop stars and public figures — none of whom were J.K. Rowling — had actually written the popular series.

—ben ? (@lntheblackout) June 7, 2020

—Cautionriah ft. Godkira (@ProceedWithMC) June 7, 2020

—gianna (@lonelyfilms) June 6, 2020

The memes seem to have emerged out of a dissonance between people’s persisting love for the “Harry Potter” books and their opinion that her remarks were transphobic. After getting cancelled multiple times, as she discusses in her statement, there’s a drive to divorce her controversial reality from the fictional world of her most popular work.

This meme format traces back to a meme started by a parody account of virtual Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku. The account claimed back in March 2019 that Miku had made “Minecraft”  instead of the game’s creator, Markus “Notch” Persson, who wasn’t invited to “Minecraft’s” 10th anniversary in 2019 due to remarks people called transphobic, sexist, and otherwise problematic.  

—@mikumiku_ebooks (@mikumiku_ebooks) March 29, 2019

From that point onward, the format of the meme spread online. While it was initially tied to Miku, Minecraft, and Notch, the tactic was later applied to Rowling herself back in December 2019 when she tweeted something that critics said was transphobic. 

—Aaron Schmit ? BLM (@theaaronschmit) December 20, 2019

The meme itself has now become tied to problematic creators, and has been attached to Rowling at what appears to be just as large a scale as the original Notch call-out. It’s no longer just Miku that has written “Harry Potter.” It’s also Britney Spears, and Valeria Marini, and Ariana Grande, and no one, or essentially any beloved celebrity who hasn’t been canceled quite as many times as Rowling herself.

Many, however, argue that deflecting Rowling’s transphobic comments by pretending that she didn’t write “Harry Potter” fails to address problematic elements of the series itself, as well as the fact that she still earns money off of sales of the books. 

—ff7 brainrot ✿ (@cloudsmiIes) June 8, 2020

Others raised (and have raised in the past) the concern that pretending that J.K. Rowling didn’t write “Harry Potter” allows people to not hold her accountable for what they say are anti-Semitic and racist representations in the books, arguing that it’s impossible to separate the author and her work. 

—? Damnation Party ? #bIacklivesmatter (@damnationparty) June 10, 2020

—nour | #bIm + acab (@icedcitruss) June 11, 2020

—@mikumiku_ebooks (@mikumiku_ebooks) June 6, 2020

Claiming that other people, whether it’s “Harry Potter” cast members or virtual pop stars, wrote “Harry Potter” is a means of grappling with the problematic legacy of the author of a beloved work. Ultimately though, it’s impossible to separate the two. What is clear is that, as Insider’s Canela López reported, Rowling’s comments have had a devastating effect on trans “Harry Potter” fans.

• Read more:
• J.K. Rowling may have created a fictional world where anything was possible, but her reality is a lot less magical
• Trans ‘Harry Potter’ fans say they are devastated by JK Rowling’s transphobia — but some say it’s a distraction from the violence against trans Black people
• J.K. Rowling penned a statement explaining her ‘reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues’ and asking for empathy
• ‘Transgender women are women’: Daniel Radcliffe rebukes J.K. Rowling’s comments and apologizes to ‘Harry Potter’ readers if their experience of the books is now tarnished
  

Harry Potter is the gift that keeps on giving. 

During a virtual interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Nov. 12, The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy—who’s first language is Spanish—shared a fun fact about her English education. 

“My uncles taught me to read and to speak at the same time with the Harry Potter books,” she confessed to host Seth Meyers. “I was such an annoying child, like, God bless my parents. It means that I was either casting spells continuously or using very annoying words. Like, I was such a precocious, annoying little kid. It’s like, ‘Mommy I cleaned the dishes meticulously.’ You know that kind of thing.”  

The young actress, who starred in the 2015 supernatural horror film The Witch, also discussed the reality of playing a chess prodigy on Netflix’s hit show The Queen’s Gambit, in comparison to learning the complicated game for real. Spoiler: It wasn’t easy. 

“I had this wonderful idea that I was going to get fantastic at chess and you know, it was going to be my superpower forever,” the 24-year-old recalled. “But the reality was that I was working back to back and so I just had to kind of give myself to it and learn as much as I could.” 

“I do hope that people take extra care in the coming weeks.”

Why you can trust Pocket-lint

(Pocket-lint) – The Harry Potter franchise might be headed to the small screen.

Two recent reports have claimed that a Harry Potter live-action TV series is in early development – and it’s meant for HBO Max.

It should be no surprise that HBO and Warner Bros would want to continue developing the Harry Potter franchise, especially for its streaming service, given they’ve just recently launched HBO Max and content is king during this age of the streaming wars. After all, Disney certainly isn’t wasting any time drumming up more shows within the Marvel and Star Wars worlds in order to beef up its Disney+ streaming service. 

Here then is everything we’ve heard so far about the new Harry Potter show and its potential debut on HBO Max. 

Harry Potter TV show: Rumours

The Hollywood Reporter first reported in January 2020 that executives at WarnerMedia have held a series of meetings with writers to discuss broad ideas about bringing the Harry Potter franchise to television. The meetings were described as “early-stage exploratory” conversations.

Executives at both HBO and Warner Bros are reportedly attempting to find a writer and pitch for a Harry Potter live-action TV series for HBOMax. However, in a statement, HBO Max and Warner Bros said there are” no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform”.

Variety has also reported that a Harry Potter series is in very early development at HBO Max. It claimed that rumours about a show set within the wizarding world have existed for some time, but it’s still unclear what the focus of the show would be or where it would fit into the Potter timeline.

The Harry Potter books are among the most popular of all time, having sold over 500 million copies worldwide. They were adapted into eight feature-length films, which have grossed nearly $8 billion worldwide, plus there are two Fantastic Beasts spinoff films, with a third due out in 2022.

It’s worth noting that the franchise’s writer and creator, JK Rowling, has received a heaping amount of backlash in the last couple of years for her tweets as well as an essay on transgender individuals. It’s therefore unknown if Rowling will be attached to the TV show in any way. But Rowling, along with Warner Bros, does control the rights to the franchise, which remains beloved by fans worldwide despite Rowling’s recent remarks. 

Harry Potter TV show: Cast and crew

No writers or directors are attached yet, let alone talent, as the show is still is reportedly still in the early stages and no deals have been made.

Harry Potter TV show: Release date

The Harry Potter TV show has no known release date at this time. But keep in mind the entire franchise has complicated rights issues that could delay the TV show from launching for a few years, considering reports claim Warner Bros wants to reserve the series for its HBO Max streaming service. 

NBCUniversal in 2016 landed a seven-year distribution rights deal with Warner Bros that included US broadcast, cable, and streaming rights to the Harry Potter franchise. Because that deal ends in April 2025, Warners execs had to ink a separate deal to stream the feature films briefly on HBO Max. The films are set to return to NBCUniversal, for its Peacock streaming service, at a date to be determined later this year.

So, it may have to wait until 2025 to even debut on HBO Max, unless Warner Bros and HBO have been able to work out a different deal that allows it to develop a new series that it can distribute without NBCUniversal. Even then, it does sound like the TV show is still a long way from coming to fruition. 

Harry Potter TV show: Trailers

There are no trailers or teasers available. HBO and Warner Bros haven’t even confirmed the TV show is in the works yet.

Want to know more?

Check out our guide on how to watch every Harry Potter movie in order.

click image

• Photo courtesy LeakyCon/Facebook
• Attendees at LeakyCons in days of yore

Harry Potter fandom expo LeakyCon in Orlando has been postponed for yet another year because of pandemic-related concerns.

The convention, a weekend full of colorful costumes and fantastical fiction and myth, along with a Dementor or two — just to clarify, we’re not talking about CPAC, that one sadly did happen — was set for the Orange County Convention Center in June. The new date for LeakyCon is July 29-31, 2022, still at the Convention Center.

Guests who were confirmed for the now-postponed 2021 event included actors Devon Murray, Josh Herdman and Stanislav Yanevski.

Tickets for LeakyCon 202o or 2021 can be rolled forward to the planned 2022 convention. Refund requests will be honored through Friday, April 30.

LeakyCon Denver is still a go for October as of this writing.

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The transphobic creator of the Harry Potter series, whose works inspire the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, will not have a direct role in the creation of the game.

The developers of Hogwarts Legacy are trying to distance themselves from J.K. Rowling, creator of the world and characters the upcoming action RPG is based on.

In an FAQ that went live following Hogwarts Legacy’s unveiling at the PS5 Showcase, publisher Warner Bros. directly addressed the point, saying that the author will not be “directly involved in the creation of the game.”

“J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World. This is not a new story from J.K. Rowling,” it reads.

Warner Bros., however, did not say whether Rowling will receive any royalties from the sales of the game.

J.K. Rowling recently made a number of transphobic statements on Twitter, only to make matters worse by explaining her views in a follow-up blog post. Among other things, she seemingly came out in support of TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) activists, and suggested that “peer influence” was a factor in some people’s decision to change sex.

Recent reports suggested that the team at developer Avalanche expressed concerns about their work being tied to Rowling. This could have prompted a change in marketing, which is seemingly trying to distance itself from Rowling.

Hogwarts Legacy takes place in 1800’s Hogwarts, meaning it is set well before the events of mainline Harry Potter series, and its Fantastic Beasts prequel. It’s coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.

December 24, 2020, 1:56 PM ·

Merry Christmas, theme park fans! I know that the pandemic is keeping many of you from visiting the parks this holiday season, so I would like to summon the Ghost of Christmases Past to bring you some of our favorite Christmas videos from the Universal theme parks, so you can enjoy a theme park Christmas celebration at home.

Fire up your Chromecast or Apple TV and put this one up on your TV to enjoy highlights from Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood for the next hour. We have plenty from the Grinch, plus the Macy’s holiday parade and Celestina Warbeck, wrapped up with the Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle.

And Disney fans, we are not forgetting you this year. Stay tuned later tonight for our Very Merry Disney Christmas playlist.

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JK Rowling Could Make Changes Or Adjustments To The Story If She Wanted To

Perhaps the greatest reason that Harry Potter should become an HBO Max original series is the fact that, much like Game of Thrones did with its later seasons, there’s room to artistically diverge from the intended path of the franchise. There may be aspects to the original story that J.K. Rowling has a new perspective on all these years later. A TV show would give her the opportunity to explore the characters’ stories in a different way, if she chose to. Or, if Rowling wants to take the Stephen King route, she could write new material leading to a radically changed ending when all is said and done.