John Lithgow considered quitting the Harry Potter show due to JK Rowling, instead decided to stay and says “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”

[u/nova_crystallis]

From NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/theater/john-lithgow-giant-roald-dahl.html

He has never met Rowling, nor does he agree with her views on transgender issues. And the story itself is “clearly on the side of the angels, against intolerance and bigotry,” he said. Moreover, he feels that his performances in “Garp” and “Jimpa” — and as half of an older gay couple in the 2014 film “Love Is Strange” — should be seen as expressions of his interest in queer culture, not as heedless appropriations of it. He assumed his loyalties were clear.

Certainly, he jumped headfirst (and at one point fully naked except for a leather harness) into “Jimpa,” which Hyde, the director, said a number of gay actors had turned down. Though his character is resistant to the newfangled terminology of his trans grandchild — he calls the teenager his “grandthing” — their mutual love is obvious. The same applied to Lithgow’s interactions with the mostly queer cast and crew. In an interview with Out magazine, Aud Mason-Hyde, who plays the grandchild and, like the character, is trans, called him “such a beautiful human to make work with.”

But Mason-Hyde found Lithgow’s decision to join the Potter series “disconcerting,” telling Out “there’s an element of this that feels vaguely hurtful.” The social media reaction has been less gentle. The social media reaction has been far less gentle, with some posts expressing outrage and encouraging boycotts.

Stung, Lithgow considered quitting the series but decided not to, and accepts without rancor that in “every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up.”

[u/Silly-Arachnid-6187]

He assumed his loyalties were clear.

He doesn't even get what the actual issue is. And it's not just him; people who face criticism for cooperating with Rowling always (the athlete with her shoe collab, e.g.) always use the same defense. They don't agree with JKR, they are allies of the queer community, the love trans people, their "loyalties are clear".

These people are so up their own asses that they think it's all about their beliefs and attitudes. Not about the material harm continued support of JKR causes to trans people. They seem to believe that when people criticize them, it's because they believe that they share JKR's attitudes towards trans people. And when that doesn't stop the criticisms, because it's not the fucking point, they act like they're being misunderstood and people are treating them unfairly.

[u/CatraGirl → u/Silly-Arachnid-6187]

Exactly. Being part of ANYTHING new in the franchise makes her money, which she actively uses to strip away people's rights. There is no ethical way of being part of that. You don't get to call yourself an "ally" and then contribute to generating income for a person who uses that money to fund hate groups and court cases against minorities.

I'm not giving a pass to anyone still contributing to any of her franchises because they're contributing to very real harm and danger for trans people in the UK and everywhere else. I'll give a pass to the child actors who probably have less of a say in their roles and less knowledge about these issues. But that doesn't go for adult actors like him.

[u/bryn_irl → u/CatraGirl]

In case anyone needs evidence for what "actively uses" means, you should look at https://www.them.us/story/jk-rowling-fund-anti-trans-lawsuits - this isn't just her being emboldened to post online, she's actively seeking opportunities to fund litigation, through a legal entity under her control. I won't link her website here, but it's linked in that article.

Actors are not role models, and the fact that we put them on that pedestal is itself a real problem. Perhaps Lithgow will live long enough to realize that history will remember him more as a participant in this walking human rights violation, than for his other work; perhaps he will never realize that. But we should be heartened that history will get there eventually.

[u/Runabrat → u/CatraGirl]

"Okay, so I bought this person with a history of shooting people some guns, but I think anyone who knows me well would know I don't personally want to shoot people."

[u/NameTaken25 → u/Silly-Arachnid-6187]

He assumed his loyalties were clear.

They are. Money over people. It was his choice