'Succession' star Brian Cox defended JK Rowling over transphobia accusations: 'It's the cancel culture. I keep well away from it'

• Brian Cox, the head of HBO's multi-award winning drama-comedy "Succession," has defended J.K. Rowling against accusations of transphobia saying that "cancel culture" is to blame and he tries to "keep well away from it."

• In the latest edition of Reader's Digest seen by the Daily Mail, Cox, 74, said that he was "away when this J.K. Rowling thing had been going on," so he asked his son to explain the situation.

• "I kept saying 'so what happened?' He said: 'well, she believes women menstruate.'" To which Cox replied: "That's what they do, don't they? He said: 'well, people don't like that' and you go oh, for Christ's sake!"

• Elaborating on his stance, the Emmy winning actor said: "Call something what it is, as opposed to something that you think it should be. And it is — it's the cancel culture. I keep well away from it."

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Brian Cox, one of the stars of HBO's multi-award winning drama-comedy "Succession," has defended J.K. Rowling against accusations of transphobia saying that "cancel culture" is to blame and he tries to "keep well away from it."

In the latest edition of Reader's Digest seen by the Daily Mail, Cox, 74, said that he was "away when this J.K. Rowling thing had been going on," so he asked his son to explain the situation.

"I kept saying 'so what happened?' He said: 'well, she believes women menstruate'". To which Cox replied: "That's what they do, don't they? He said: 'well, people don't like that' and you go oh, for Christ's sake."

Elaborating on his stance, the Emmy winning actor said: "Call something what it is, as opposed to something that you think it should be. And it is — it's the cancel culture. I keep well away from it."

Rowling has been on the receiving end of several allegations of transphobia since June after she challenged a magazine article that used the phrase "people who menstruate," resulting in a thread of tweets in which she argued that "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased."

Rowling followed these tweets up with a lengthy post blog post in which she elaborated on her "gender critical" views. The blog post, however, was widely criticized by LGBTQ advocacy groups and medical professionals for containing myriad scientific inaccuracies and perpetuating harmful stereotypes about trans people.

Furthermore, earlier this month it was reported that Rowling's new novel, "Troubled Blood," centers on a cisgender male serial killer who fetishizes women's clothing — a decades-old transphobic trope — and in one instance in the book, the killer disguises himself as a woman to trick a female victim.

Cox picked up his first Emmy nomination for his role as Logan Roy, a stern patriarch and resourceful media mogul on HBO's comedy-drama, "Succession," at this year's virtual Emmy awards. However, he lost out to his co-star Jeremy strong. The show picked up seven awards including best directing and writing.

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