‘I reject that’: Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch shuts down Eamonn Holmes when quizzed about castmates giving JK Rowling the ‘cold shoulder’
- The Harry Potter actress told Holmes she ‘rejected’ his claim castmates had snubbed Rowling in the wake of her statements on transgender issues
- Lynch, 30, was speaking to the presenter, 62, during a GMB interview on Tuesday morning
- Rowling faced accusations of transphobia after she mocked an online article in June 2020 which used the words ‘people who menstruate’ instead of ‘women’
- Her remarks led to a massive backlash with criticism coming from fans and Harry Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint
- Lynch insisted: ‘The cast all have great respect for her even if they don’t agree with her beliefs’
Actress Evanna Lynch shut down Eamonn Holmes when he suggested her castmates had given JK Rowling ‘the cold shoulder’ over her statements on transgender issues.
Evanna, 30, said she would ‘of course’ work with Rowling, 56, again, prompting Eamonn, 62, to remark: ‘I’m sure not all your colleagues think the same, bearing in mind the amount that have given Rowling the cold shoulder.’
Speaking during a GMB interview on Tuesday, Evanna fired back: ‘I wouldn’t say it was the cold shoulder’ before adding that she ‘rejects’ such a narrative.
‘I reject that’: Evanna Lynch was quick to shut down Eamonn Holmes when he suggested her fellow castmates had given JK Rowling ‘the cold shoulder’ during a GMB interview on Tuesday
Response: Evanna, 30, told Eamonn, 62: ‘I think there’s things we don’t all agree with and don’t understand’
The star – who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films – explained: ‘I think there’s things we don’t all agree with and don’t understand.
‘I’ve talked to all the cast, they all have great respect for her even if they don’t agree with her beliefs. I really strongly disagree with the narrative that there’s a rift.’
Evanna added: ‘She has her beliefs and she’s doing her thing. We all have strong beliefs and it’s been a very difficult conversation.
‘I want there to be healing and I don’t want us to keep fighting, so I reject that narrative that there’s been a cold shoulder.’
She added: ‘I’ve talked to all the cast, they all have great respect for her even if they don’t agree with her beliefs. I really strongly disagree with the narrative that there’s a rift’
Evanna went on: ‘She has her beliefs and she’s doing her thing. We all have strong beliefs and it’s been a very difficult conversation’
Rowling faced accusations of transphobia after she mocked an online article in June 2020 which used the words ‘people who menstruate’ instead of ‘women’.
She tweeted in response: ‘I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’
She later Tweeted: ‘If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.
‘I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.’
The acclaimed novelist then penned a deeply personal essay to address the controversy, revealing she was sexually assaulted in her 20s and saying she still feels the scars of ‘domestic violence’ in her first marriage.
Having her say: The actress (pictured left in January’s 20th anniversary reunion and right in 2003’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) dismissed rift rumours
Her remarks led to a massive backlash with criticism coming from fans and Harry Potter stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, all of whom starred in HBO’s 20 year anniversary special, Return To Hogwarts.
She was also branded a TERF – a slur meaning a trans exclusionary radical feminist.
Rowling’s appearance on Returning To Hogwarts was widely speculated ahead of its premiere.
While it was known ahead of time that she would only appear in archive footage and in discussion with stars and cast, the show’s release revealed she received just 10 mentions in the one hour and 42 minute runtime.
Working it out: Two decades after first hitting screens, the cast and crew of Harry Potter reunited for the 20th anniversary Return To Hogwarts special to deep dive into life behind the wizarding franchise, led by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint
Rowling found herself at the centre of a fresh trans rights row last month after clarifying her views on sex and gender, telling fans: ‘There are innumerable gender identities’.
The British author tweeted in December: ‘I’ve never said there are only two genders’.
The comment came in response to a US news website article reporting on a poll claiming that most Americans supported her views on gender.
But the Gloucestershire-born author, who in November had to call in police after activists posted pictures of her address online, said the question in the poll did not reflect her opinion.
Responding to the article, titled ‘Most Americans Agree With J. K. Rowling, There are Only Two Genders’, she wrote: ‘Small but important point: I’ve never said there are only two genders. There are innumerable gender identities.
Another row: Rowling was embroiled in yet another transphobia row last month
That was then: JK is pictured with Rupert and Danielle at the Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone in 2001
‘The question at the heart of this debate is whether sex or gender identity should form the basis of decisions on safeguarding, provision of services, sporting categories and other areas where women and girls currently have legal rights and protections.
‘Using the words ”sex” and ”gender” interchangeably obscures the central issue of this debate.
‘If you’re interested in what I actually said, see this – (in which I literally say ”trans lives matter” and ”trans rights are human rights.”).’
The article, featured on American news site CNS News, reported on a poll by US conservative polling group Rasmussen Reports in which it was claimed that 75 per cent of American adults ‘agree with JK Rowling that there are only two genders’.
The poll reportedly was carried out via telephone and online, with 63 per cent said to have ‘strongly agreed’. A total of 18 per cent are reported to have disagreed.
Rowling clarified: ‘Small but important point: I’ve never said there are only two genders. There are innumerable gender identities’
The article also included a quote from a piece, penned by Rowling and posted on her website in June last year.
In the article, which remains on her website, she wrote: ‘It’s been clear to me for a while that the new trans activism is having (or is likely to have, if all its demands are met) a significant impact on many of the causes I support, because it’s pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.’
The CNS article, acknowledged that ‘Rowling does not dismiss transgenderism’, but says that ‘she has questioned how, politically, it is eroding the legal definitions of male and female’.
Screen time: Rowling received just 10 mentions in the one hour and 42 minute runtime in the reunion special (pictured in 2018)
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