Graham Norton addresses backlash over JK Rowling interview

Graham Norton has criticized his decision to interview JK Rowling on his Virgin Radio show earlier this month.

The talk show host, 59, said it would have been “easiest” not to have the author, 57, on the show, but said it didn’t “seem right” not to interview someone just because he disagrees with them .

JK Rowling has been accused of transphobia since she posted a series of tweets in 2020 saying that “erasing the concept of sex takes away the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”

Of her divisive views, Graham said that while he wouldn’t want to “promote” her views, it’s not his decision who gets to be on TV and radio and who doesn’t.

Rowling appeared on Graham’s Virgin Radio Show in August to talk about her new novel The Ink Black Heart, the latest in her series of novels written under her pen name Robert Galbraith.

‘Am I suddenly the goddamn moral arbiter of the world who says who can or can’t be on TV? No,” said Graham The times.

“I wouldn’t want her to speak her mind, but she has a right to still nag about her crime novel. It would be easiest not to have her on, but that didn’t seem right.’

Graham said he hasn’t spoken to the author about what he described as her “problematic” views on gender identity, but he thinks they would disagree on the subject.

But he said he thinks he still needs to talk to people he disagrees with, and reflected on the cancellation culture by saying Rowling will still sell “a trillion books” whether he interviews her or not.

Rowling regularly comes under fire on Twitter for her views, and Graham said he got an insight into how they “enjoy” the “pub argument” aspect of social media when he interviewed her.

Graham went on to explain that on his radio show he doesn’t talk about politics with guests, but he does talk about topics like gender and race.

On Graham’s show, JK Rowling described social media as: “a gift for people who want to behave maliciously” after she received a death threat from an Islamist extremist in response to her support for the stabbed Salman Rushdie.

Harry Potter author tweeted she was ‘feeling very sick now’ and ‘letting him be fine’ after Rushdie was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in upstate New York earlier this month.

But then an Islamist extremist appeared to threaten Ms Rowling, writing, “You’re next.”

Rowling has also been repeatedly targeted by trolls after making critical comments about the transgender lobby — including protesters who lined up outside her house with placards after her address was posted online last year.

Speaking to Graham Norton on his Virgin Radio show, she said: ‘Social media can be a lot of fun and I like the pub argument aspect of it.

‘That can be fun to do. But there is no doubt that social media is a gift to those who want to behave maliciously.”

And on whether there’s anything that can be done to prevent online trolling, she added: “I guess on some level I’m not sure I can do it.

“I’m not sure if anyone can. I try to behave online the way I would like others to behave. I would never want… Of course I never threatened anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to go to their houses or anything like that.’

But she insisted that her latest book The Ink Black Heart, the latest in her series of novels written under her pen name Robert Galbraith, about a cartoonist who is trolled by a fan online, has nothing to do with the threats she faces in real life. has had to do.

When asked if the story contained echoes of her own experiences, she continued: “There are more echoes than I realized because I really should make it clear after some things that happened to me online over the past year, I had it Book written earlier than I realized. things happened to me online.

“I said to my husband, ‘Everyone will see this as a reaction to what happened to me.’

“But it really wasn’t. The first draft of the book was ready the moment certain things happened to me.’

Rowling also said she was not turned down for the recent Harry Potter reunion show because of her controversial views on transgender people, but turned down an invitation instead.

The Return To Hogwarts reunion was released on January 1, but there was no place for Ms. Rowling apart from old archive footage.

Her appearance on the 20th anniversary show was widely speculated about following her statements about the rights of women and transgender people, which she accused of being “transphobic,” but no statement from the author provided clarity at the time.

She’s spoken out about the culture of cancellation in the past, claiming she’s been “cancelled” by younger generations, but in a rare interview she said she “didn’t want to be a part of it.”

She said, “I was asked to participate and I decided I didn’t want to be a part of it.

“It was about the movies, not the books, rightly so. That’s what the anniversary was about.

‘So nobody said don’t do it’ [do it]… I was asked to do it and I decided not to.’

She clarified that she was not advised against appearing, explaining that it was her own decision, following fan speculation about her absence.

An archive recording from the reunion showed the author signing for the first book, while Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, also praised JK for helping people regain a love for books during the rise of Potter mania.

The only footage from the author that speaks for herself and isn’t discussed is an excerpt from a 2019 interview that has been serialized repeatedly.

In the interview, she is seen discussing the arduous struggle to find an actor to play Harry in the casting of the first film, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone.

Since the last Harry Potter film was released, Rowling has become a deeply divisive figure.

The author has also often tweeted critically about the use of inclusive language and spaces, most notably retweeting a post referring to “menstruating people” and adding, “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me. wumben? Wimp? Woomud?’

Transgender activists say Ms. Rowling’s views are discriminatory and fail to recognize the difficulties transgender and non-binary people face, but some feminists argue that it is vital to preserve same-sex spaces to protect vulnerable women.

She has also been criticized for claims she made in an effort to defend herself in 2020, including the claim that only people who are “privileged or lucky enough to never have been confronted with male violence” support inclusive spaces.