JK Rowling has claimed she was never friends with Stephen Fry, after he accused her of being “radicalised by TERFs”.
The 66-year-old actor, comedian and broadcaster – who narrated the audiobooks for all seven Harry Potter novels – recently said he used to be close to Rowling but has been deeply disturbed by her recent comments and online activity.
Following Fry’s comments, British barrister Jo Maugham wrote on X: “Really creditable this, from Stephen Fry. I've spoken to so many of JKR's once friends who now despair at her privately but won't do so publicly, which is very much the British way and why nothing ever changes for the better. So well done Stephen.”
But replying to the post, Rowling, 59, claimed the pair were never friends.
“It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to have been a friend of mine was ever considered a friend by me,” she said.
Speaking on The Show People podcast, Fry said: “She has been radicalised, I fear – perhaps by TERFs, [trans-exclusionary radical feminists] but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her. It is unhelpful and only hardens her. I’m afraid she seems to be a lost cause for us.”
Fry, who is gay and a long-time advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, said on the podcast Rowling’s stance has left him angry and saddened, particularly her refusal to distance herself from the more extreme rhetoric shared by some of her supporters.
“She started to make these peculiar statements and had very strong, difficult views,” he said. “She seemed to kick a hornet’s nest of transphobia that has been entirely destructive.”
“I disagree profoundly with her on this subject. She says things that are inflammatory, contemptuous and mocking. They add to a terribly distressing time for trans people.”
Fry said he had once enjoyed Rowling’s company and had chosen not to speak out publicly at the height of the controversy, despite criticism from within the LGBTQ+ community. In 2022, he told the Beeb Watch podcast that he wouldn’t “abandon” either Rowling or his trans friends.
But three years on, he has now taken a firmer stance, describing the current anti-trans climate as a genuine emergency.
“When it comes to the transphobia issue, it is right to remind people that trans people are here and that they are hurting,” he said. “They are being abominably treated. There’s a great deal of bullying, violence, suicide and genuine agony in the trans community.”
He also warned against reducing the debate to social media outrage: “To scream ‘transphobe’ at anybody who doesn’t buy into every single aspect of a person’s trans views is self-harming. It doesn’t get the thing done. You have to let people love you.”
Fry joins Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in publicly distancing themselves from Rowling’s views on gender identity and trans rights. All three have expressed support for the trans community in the past.
