Pedro Pascal has ripped into J.K. Rowling’s “heinous loser behavior” as the actor criticized the author’s “disgusting” response to an anti-transgender ruling by the U.K.’s Supreme Court.
The Last of Us star’s comments came in response to an Instagram video from activist Tariq Ra’ouf, who explained to followers Rowling’s role in financing an anti-trans group who successfully lobbied the Supreme Court to rule that transgender women should not be recognized as women under Britain’s Equality Act last week.
Ra’ouf said Rowling is “reveling” in the harm she has caused the trans community, and urged people to boycott the Harry Potter franchise. “It has become our mission as the general public to make sure that every single thing that’s Harry Potter related fails… because that awful disgusting s–t, that has consequences,” he said.
“Awful disgusting S–t is exactly right,” Pascal commented in response to Ra’ouf’s video. “Heinous LOSER behavior.”
The actor, 50, is an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ+ rights and has publicly supported his sister Lux Pascal after she came out as transgender in 2021.
On Wednesday, the actor attended the U.K.’s red carpet premiere of Marvel movie Thunderbolts wearing a T-shirt which read “Protect the Dolls,” which is part of a fundraising campaign to raise awareness of anti-transgender sentiment worldwide.
He also voiced his support for the trans community in an Instagram post on February 21, in which he wrote: “I can’t think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist.”
Under the Supreme Court’s ruling, “men” and “women” are defined by their biological sex only, and businesses and service providers are now legally allowed to exclude trans women from anywhere designated as a single-sex space. The ruling may also impact trans women’s access to public restrooms, prisons, refuge spaces and hospital wards, and may see them barred from competing in women’s sports.
The decision came following a sustained lobbying campaign from anti-transgender group For Women Scotland, who have been bankrolled by Rowling. The Harry Potter author celebrated the verdict by tweeting a picture of her smoking a cigar on her private yacht along with the caption “I love it when a plan comes together.”
But not all have welcomed the ruling. Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan tore into the author for her support of anti-trans views and said in an Instagram Story that “This Is a New Low for J.K. Rowling.”
“Keep your new Harry Potter lads,” she said, before adding that she “wouldn’t touch [the series] with a ten-foot pole.”
HBO recently announced a major reboot of the Harry Potter franchise, confirming they were adapting the whole series for television with each of the seven books taking up a full season of the show.
But the stars of the original film series, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have also denounced Rowling’s anti-trans views and offered their support to the LGBTQ+ community, earning them the ire of the author who has hinted she will “never” forgive them for defying her.
The post Pedro Pascal Tears Into ‘Heinous Loser’ J.K. Rowling Over Transgender Remarks appeared first on The Daily Beast.
