JK Rowling speaks out against anti-trans comments backlash: Never set out to upset anyone

Two years after she faced severe criticism for her comments on the transgender community, author JK Rowling addressed the issue and tried to clear things up. In the last two years, Rowling's comments have been widely perceived as denigrating especially towards trans women. Now, in a new podcast titled 'The Witch Trials of JK Rowling', the 'Harry Potter' author has addressed the controversy stating she never wanted to 'upset anyone.'

Rowling addressed how many fans felt she had ruined her legacy following the controversy. "What has interested me in recent years, particularly on social media (is when fans say), 'You've ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.` And I think, `You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.'"

"I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal," Rowling said in the podcast`s trailer. 'The Witch Trials of JK Rowling', hosted by Megan Phelps-Roper, is set to premiere on February 21.

The series also features interviews with Rowling`s supporters and critics, as well as journalists, historians, "clinicians and more," reported Variety.

Rowling, author of the Harry Potter best-selling fantasy book series, alienated and angered many fans with a series of tweets in June 2020 about transgender people. In one of the tweets, Rowling wrote, "If sex isn`t real, there`s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn`t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased... I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn`t hate to speak the truth."

In the wake of those comments and subsequent ones, actors who have appeared in movies based on her books, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Eddie Redmayne, have spoken out against Rowling. Rowling was also kept out from the 20th anniversary celebration of 'Harry Potter' films in 2021.