Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan publicly criticized author J.K. Rowling on friday, following the author’s celebration of a controversial U.K. Supreme Court ruling that determined trans women are not legally considered women. The decision, which sparked widespread debate, was met with approval from Rowling, who posted a photo on X of herself holding a drink and smoking a cigar with a caption.
However, Nicola didn’t hold back. Sharing a post from a newspapert titled “This Is a New Low for J.K. Rowling” on her Instagram Stories, she added her own message: “Keep your new Harry Potter lads.” The comment referenced the upcoming Harry Potter reboot series, which Rowling is directly involved in, having taken part in selecting the showrunner and executive producers. Nicola made it clear she wanted no part of the project, saying she “wouldn’t touch [the series] with a ten-foot pole.”
She also continued to express her solidarity with the trans community in a video posted to Instagram. “To see an already-marginalized community to be further attacked in law is really stomach-turning and disgusting, and these people celebrating it [are] more stomach-turning and disgusting,” she said. Announcing her plan to raise funds for Not A Phase, a U.K.-based charity that supports trans adults, Coughlan initially pledged to match donations up to £10,000.
“If you are a cisgender person who is an ally of a trans person, I think now is the time to just speak up and make your voice heard, and let your trans, nonbinary friends and just the community at large know that you’re there for them and will keep fighting for them,” she added.
By Friday, her campaign had already raised nearly £100,000, an amount she confirmed on her Instagram Story.
Nicola joins a growing number of public figures who have spoken out against Rowling’s views, which first drew intense backlash in 2020. Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon noted how painful the author’s remarks were for her own transgender son. Pete Davidson called Rowling out during a segment on Saturday Night Live, bluntly asking, “What’s wrong with her?”
Even stars from the Harry Potter franchise have distanced themselves from Rowling’s stance. Daniel Radcliffe responded with an essay for The Trevor Project, writing, “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”
Rupert Grint expressed similar sentiments, telling The Sunday Times, “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.”
Emma Watson also made her position clear in a tweet: “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.”
In a 2023 interview with The Atlantic, Dani once again addressed the controversy, sharing his dismay over Rowling’s statements. “Really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic,” he said. “Obviously, Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person. But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”