Warner Bros defends JK Rowling after questions about author were 'banned' at Harry Potter event

Warner Bros is “proud” to be associated with JK Rowling, the film studio said, after questions about the author were banned at a Harry Potter event.

When actor Tom Felton appeared at the Warner Bros Studio Tour to promote a new Harry Potter attraction this week, a Sky News reporter mentioned Rowling’s name.

A publicist immediately stepped in and said: “Next question please.”

When Sky asked why the question had been blocked, the broadcaster was told: “JK Rowling is not connected to Warner or Tom Felton. The team felt it was not relevant to the piece.”

Ms Rowling has become a controversial figure after expressing her opinions on trans rights.

Warner Bros has since reacted to the interview. In a statement, a spokesman for the Warner Bros Studio Tour said: “Warner Bros has enjoyed a creative, productive and fulfilling partnership with JK Rowling for the past 20 years. She is one of the world’s most accomplished storytellers, and we are proud to be the studio to bring her vision, characters and stories to life now - and for decades to come.

“On Monday, a statement was issued by a third party media agency that appeared contrary to this view.

“The statement was wholly wrong, and Warner Bros Studio Tour London regrets it happened as part of a media event that day.”

The Harry Potter films are among the highest-grossing franchises of all time.

Mr Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, previously attracted criticism for liking one of the author’s tweets and has been careful not to offer an opinion on her views.

Ms Rowling has been accused of transphobia since stating her belief that biological sex is real, and mocking an article that referred to “people who menstruate” rather than “women”. The backlash to her comments, made in 2020, was so vitriolic that she said last year: “I’ve now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them.”

The stars of the Harry Potter films, including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, came out in support of trans rights, while many fans said they would no longer read Ms Rowling’s books.

Ms Rowling published an essay explaining that she felt strongly about protecting women’s rights and defending single-sex spaces because she was a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“The scars left don’t disappear, no matter how loved you are, and no matter how much money you’ve made,” she wrote.

Trans rights supporters questioned Ms Rowling’s commitment to women’s rights when she initially stayed silent on the US Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade. However, Ms Rowling tweeted on Wednesday in response to Danny Kruger, the Tory MP, saying that women do not have an “absolute right of bodily autonomy”.

The author also took to social media this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the publication of her first Harry Potter book.

She wrote: “25 years ago today, I saw Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in a bookstore (Waterstones, Prince’s Street, Edinburgh) for the very first time. It was one of the best moments of my life. Thank you, @BloomsburyBooks, for taking a chance on a total unknown.

“I had absolutely no idea what was coming as I stood dumbstruck in that book shop, staring at my name on the spine of a published novel. Thank you to every single reader who boarded the Hogwarts Express in 1997 and stuck with Harry until the very end. What a journey it was…”