Keira Knightley ‘Was Not Aware’ of ‘Harry Potter’ Boycott Prior to Joining Audiobook Cast

Keira Knightley said she “was not aware” of the call for a Harry Potter boycott over J.K.Rowling’s anti-trans statements prior to her joining the voice cast for Harry Potter: The Full Cast Audio Editions.

In an interview with Decider, the interviewer noted that the actress is voicing Professor Umbridge for Pottermore Publishing and Audible’s Harry Potter audiobooks and asked if she knew that some fans have called for a Harry Potter boycott.

“I was not aware of that, no. I’m very sorry,” Knightley told the outlet. “You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect.”

Rowling has for years approved of or has made repeated transphobic comments, which have drawn criticism from both Harry Potter fans and actors, including Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, alike.

In an interview with On Purpose With Jay Shetty last month, Watson explained how she navigates valuing her time spent with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling despite the author having publicly denounced her and Radcliffe for standing against her anti-trans stance.

“I really don’t believe that by having had that experience, and holding the love and support and views that I have, means that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I had personal experiences with,” Watson said. “I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish. I just don’t think these things are either/or.”

Watson added: “It’s my deepest wish that I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with.”

Following Watson’s nuanced look at their relationship, J.K. Rowling responded by lambasting the actress as “ignorant.” In a lengthy post on social platform X, Rowling dismissed Watson’s account. “Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is,” the author wrote. 

Rowling did acknowledge that she’s “not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created,” calling that idea “ludicrous.” She added: “Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology. Such beliefs are legally protected, and I wouldn’t want to see any of them threatened with loss of work, or violence, or death, because of them.”

From Rolling Stone US.