Laurence Fox attends the 65th Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the London Coliseum on November 24, 2019 in London, England. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Laurence Fox, the white actor who once said racism was “boring”, has now insisted that Harry Potter stars speaking out against JK Rowling’s anti-trans views are “spoiled millionaires”.
A long line of actors who starred in the Harry Potter films and spin-offs have been speaking out and standing in solidarity with the trans community after the author put out a string of anti-trans tweets, and later an essay defending her “gender critical” views.
Laurence Fox is an actor few had heard of before his appearance on BBC’s Question Time in January when he tried to lecture a woman of colour about racism, and said: “It’s so easy to throw the card of racism at everybody, and it’s really starting to get boring now.”
Now, Fox has described Harry Potter stars Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson as “spoiled millionaires” who are like “children rounding on their mother”.
In an op-ed for The Spectator, Fox wrote: “First they came for the statues.Then Basil Fawlty got ‘cancelled’ and three spoiled millionaires turned on their creator.
“Harry Potter, it would seem, is deathly shallow. Rupert Grint, looked for a moment like holding firm, but he too quickly succumbed to the growing pressure to slip his golden dagger between Rowling’s shoulder blades.
“Surely these rich list regulars are perfectly placed to say what they actually think, protected from the ever-tightening vice of censorship?
“Apparently not. Fearing for their virtue, or their future or both, the three children rounded on their mother.”
Laurence Fox took aim at Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
Actor Daniel Radcliffe was the first of the films’ three protagonists to speak out against JK Rowling’s anti-trans tirade.
Responding in a blog for LGBT+ charity The Trevor Project, Radcliffe said: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations.”
Emma Watson was next to break her silence, writing on Twitter: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020
Finally, Rupert Grint joined his Harry Potter co-stars in defending trans people on June 12.
In a statement released to The Times, he said: “I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers.
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgement.”