J.K. RowlingGetty
During a feature on Radio 4’s PM show in February, host Evan Davis allowed Stacey Henley, a transgender woman, to criticize Rowling’s “nasty views” during a discussion about video game Hogwarts Legacy.
Henley, editor-in-chief of The Gamer, accused the author of pushing “transphobia” and said she was active in campaigning “against trans people.”
Davis said Rowling “wouldn’t say she’s transphobic,” but this attempt to balance the conversation did not come until minutes after Henley’s initial comments. The BBC received 199 complaints about the exchange.
In a ruling on Thursday, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said the radio show “did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.” The ECU considered the matter resolved, however, as the BBC and Davis had already publicly acknowledged the Rowling debate’s shortcomings.
The BBC said in February: “We do accept that there wasn’t sufficient challenge to the claims that were made and that we fell short here. This is a difficult and contentious area which we do try very hard to cover fairly and well on the BBC. However we should have challenged Stacey Henley more directly on her claims and apologise that we did not.”
Davis also said that criticism from listeners was fair. “I think perhaps we got stuck because we were actually trying hard NOT to debate @jk_rowling or the substance of her views. We hadn’t intended or cast it that way,” he tweeted.
Rowling’s views on transgender issues have drawn widespread criticism over the years, including from some of the Harry Potter film franchise’s biggest stars.
She was announced on Wednesday as an Executive Producer on a Harry Potter television series for Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streaming service. Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, dodged questions about Rowling.
“That’s a very online conversation, obviously very nuanced and complicated, and not something we’re going to get into,” he said. “The Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That’s our priority — what’s on screen.”
News
Ed Sheeran has a great love for the Ipswich Town club, and his special actions for his favorite team after officially becoming a related party made fans extremely excited.
FBL-ENG-PR-IPSWICH-LIVERPOOL© AFP via Getty Images Ed Sheeran made a surprise appearance at Ipswich Town’s first Premier League game in 22 years today (17 August), and even helped hand out a few special Tingly Ted’s pies to fans. The singer got behind the counter of a…
Ed Sheeran stuns Romanian fans with surprise appearance from Hollywood actor
Avengers star joined the British singer-songwriter for a rendition of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Ed Sheeran had a surprise in store for fans attending his concert in Romania on Saturday (24 August), as he invited a Hollywood star to join him onstage….
Ed Sheeran has shared a new clip of him learning to dance to his own hit music. Detail
Ed Sheeran learns to line dance to his own hit song on North Carolina trip Ed Sheeran has shared a new clip of himself learning the routine to his own hit song-turned-line dancing classic. The singer was in North Carolina when he joined a local…
JK Rowling warns against ‘black and white thinking’ in new podcast, fans react to her comments about the transgender community.
‘We should mistrust ourselves most when we are certain,’ Harry Potter author says JK Rowling has criticised “black-and-white thinking” in her new podcast, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, which is partly intended to address the backlash over her comments about the transgender community….
JK Rowling: Statements That Shocked the World About Transgender Rights
A timeline of JK Rowling’s comments about women and transgender rights Fans have called for a planned boycott of the new Harry Potter TV reboot as Rowling is announced as the show’s executive producer JK Rowling first made controversial comments about…
A Painful Chapter: JK Rowling Opens Up About Loss Before Welcoming Daughter Jessica.
The author discusses the experience on ‘The Witch Trials of JK Rowling’, a seven-part podcast JK Rowling has reflected on going through a traumatic miscarriage in her twenties, before she gave birth to her daughter Jessica. Speaking on a new podcast, the Harry Potter author…
End of content
No more pages to load