Ralph Fiennes defends J.K. Rowling: 'The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting'

Ralph Fiennes spoke out in support of J.K. Rowling, calling the "verbal abuse" she's received for her stance on transgender rights "appalling." Fiennes, who played Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort in the films, defended the author in a conversation with the New York Times.

"J.K. Rowling has written these great books about empowerment, about young children finding themselves as human beings. It's about how you become a better, stronger, more morally centered human being," he said.

"The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting, it's appalling. I mean, I can understand a viewpoint that might be angry at what she says about women. But it's not some obscene, über-right-wing fascist," Fiennes continued. "It's just a woman saying, 'I'm a woman and I feel I'm a woman and I want to be able to say that I'm a woman.' And I understand where she's coming from. Even though I'm not a woman."

Rowling first faced backlash in 2019 when she publicly supported a U.K. woman who was fired for comments deemed transphobic.

"Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security," Rowling tweeted. “But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?"

The following year, Rowling made her stance about gender identity clear in a blog post on her website. The Harry Potter author has doubled, tripled and quadrupled down on her belief that trans women are not women in social media messages condemned by trans activists and allies.

In 2021, Rowling's address was posted online amid the controversy.

"I've now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them, and I haven't stopped speaking out," she tweeted. "Perhaps — and I'm just throwing this out there – the best way to prove your movement isn't a threat to women, is to stop stalking, harassing and threatening us."

Fiennes has defended Rowling before. Last year, he called the backlash against her trans comments "disturbing."

"I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to condemn irrational. I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing," he told The Telegraph.

Fiennes is in the minority of stars defending Rowling. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne have spoken out in support of trans rights over the past three years.

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