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J.K. Rowling and John Oliver are facing off again over the issue of transgender athletes.
The duo, linked by their respective creative partnerships with HBO, clashed last November after Oliver argued that there was “no evidence” trans athletes “pose any threat to safety or fairness.” Rowling claimed that Oliver was “happy to watch females suffer injury, humiliation and the loss of sporting opportunities.”
On Sunday, Oliver dedicated the main section of Last Week Tonight to the GOP and MAGA manosphere’s “obsession” with transgender competitors and banning them in sports, especially via legislation aimed at the school level.
During the segment, he referred directly to their spat last year, during which Rowling accused Oliver of spouting “absolute bulls**t.” “It feels a bit weird to catch that much heat from the creator of Harry Potter, especially when I clearly look like what would have happened to him if they left him in that cupboard for the rest of his life,” he joked, adding that he “stands by everything” he said last year.
Oliver acknowledged that the subject is complicated and requires nuance, but argued that “you can basically say anything you want about trans people, as long as you tag on ‘in sports’ after it.”
In a post on X/Twitter on Monday, Rowling responded: “I understand why men like Oliver, who’ve consistently mocked anti-science people on the right, sold out initially. They didn’t want to blow up their careers. Taking fashionable anti-women’s rights positions was the cost of doing business. But it’s time to read the f****** room.”
In another message, she added: “They’re still regurgitating Twitter TRA [trans rights activist] talking points from 2020. I can’t imagine anyone being so far up their own backside they haven’t noticed that this nonsensical crap is facing a massive grassroots backlash, that it loses elections and that girls and women are being harmed.”
The argument is awkward for Warner Bros. Discovery, given that Rowling and Oliver are effectively colleagues. Rowling is heavily involved in adapting Harry Potter into a television series for HBO, which doubles as the home for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.