Keira Knightley says she was unaware of ‘Harry Potter’ audiobook boycott

Actress Keira Knightley said she was “not aware” of fan calls to boycott the new “Harry Potter” Full Cast audiobooks and said she was “very sorry.”

“I was not aware of that, no. I’m very sorry,” Knightley told Decider when asked about the calls to boycott Rowling.

Some “Harry Potter” fans were calling for the new audiobooks to be boycotted due to author J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender issues. Rowling has been an outspoken critic of transgender ideology and an advocate for women who she says have been harmed as a result. Rowling’s stance has made her the target of fierce criticism, and has caused a rift between her and the cast of the “Harry Potter” films.

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Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the film franchise, made a veiled criticism of Rowling in 2020 after the author began speaking out against transgender ideology. Rowling criticized a news article that referred to women as “people who menstruate,” in a post that went viral on X, formerly Twitter.

“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,” Watson had posted, seemingly in response to Rowling, at the time. 

In a September podcast appearance, Watson said she still “treasure[s]” Rowling despite their differing views on transgender issues.

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“I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo [Rowling], and the person that I had personal experiences with, I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experiences of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish. I just don’t think these things are either-or,” Watson said on the “On Purpose” podcast.  

Rowling responded on X, making it clear she was in no mood to reconcile. She shot down an X user’s contention that they were confident she would one day forgive Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, who played the titular role and has also been critical of Rowling’s views on transgenderism.

“Celebs who cozied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single-sex spaces,” Rowling wrote. 

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The director of the first two “Harry Potter” films, Chris Columbus, also addressed Rowling in a September interview. He said that he wished he could direct a film adaptation of Rowling’s play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” but that her differences with the cast made it “impossible.”

“I haven’t spoken to Miss Rowling in a decade or so, so I have no idea what’s going on with her, but I keep very close contact with Daniel Radcliffe and I just spoke to him a few days ago. I still have a great relationship with all the kids in the cast,” Columbus told The Times of London.

Knightley, who will voice Professor Umbridge in the audiobooks, went on to express her hope that “we can all find respect.” She did not give any indication that she would be participating in the boycott. 

“You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect,” Knightley said.