TVLine has announced that John Lithgow (3rd Rock From The Sun, Dexter: New Blood) will be joining the cast of HBO’s Harry Potter series, and the reaction from some fans has left him scratching his head. Due to her outspoken traditional values, many have seen J.K. Rowling (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) as an anti-trans activist, protesting her work. By joining the cast, they now see Lithgow as a proxy enemy, and he is feeling the wrath.
Most notably, in an interview with The Times U.K., Lithgow recounts text he received from a close friend with a trans child that included a link to an op-ed on Book Riot, openly calling for him to step away from the project. He said that was the “canary in the coal mine,” drawing a parallel as if the toxic backlash could also cause his own demise if he refuses to abandon the project. He may not be exaggerating, his Instagram account is now littered with comments from users calling for him to back away from the series, one even likening his involvement to that of “donning a Ku Klux Klan hood.”
Still on the record with The Times U.K., Lithgow muses on the notion of the push back from the LGBTQ community, as he has played gay and trans roles in the past. “I thought, why is this a factor at all? I wonder how J.K. Rowling has absorbed it. I suppose at a certain point I’ll meet her, and I’m curious to talk to her.” When asked if the cancel culture tactics will affect his decision to join the cast, he responds, “Oh, heavens no.”
Over on Book Riot, author Danika Ellis, someone who “pretty much talks about queer women books 24/7” according to her X bio, pens an appeal to Lithgow to leave the cast along with a seething take-down of J.K. Rowling. She seems to pine away from Lithgow even as she admits she grew up watching his hilarious alien character who pretends to be human on the late 90s hit comedy 3rd Rock From The Sun. Frankly, most of the op-ed seems to be a love letter to the iconic comedy/drama/horror actor. She then turns her affection to rage as she calls out J.K. Rowling for her comments like, “There are no trans kids. No child is ‘born in the wrong body’. There are only adults like you, prepared to sacrifice the health of minors to bolster your belief in an ideology that will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies and false memory syndrome combined.” She finishes the letter by pleading with Lithgow to walk away from the project in which Rowling is heavily involved, saying it will only serve to elevate her accused hateful rhetoric.
All of this comes at a time when trans rights and women’s rights are at the forefront of activism and legislation more than ever. Recently, President Trump signed an executive order to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports.” The order goes on to cite some Federal courts claiming, “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.” This has been perceived as an assault on transgender rights as it calls for the loss of federal funding if schools allow biological boys to play in the girls category.
Even more recently, reported by NPR, the U.K. high court says that trans women don’t meet the definition of woman under equalities of law. With picture of her on the beach with a glass of champagne and a cigar in her hand, Rowling celebrates this groundbreaking decision with an X post that says, “I love it when a plan comes together.” As of today, the post has garnered over 62 million views and almost half a million likes. If all press is good press, then it’s safe to say that with her loyal followers, die-hard Harry Potter fans, and a storm of hellfire from her antagonists, this series could become one of the most watched shows of all time on HBO.