Robbie Coltrane says JK Rowling transphobia critics ‘hang around waiting to be offended’

Author has denied holding transphobic views despite sustained criticism

Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane has defended JK Rowling against accusations of transphobia, arguing that her critics “wait around to be offended”.

Coltrane, who portrayed Hagrid in the film adaptations of Rowling’s Potter books, also said that he didn’t find the author’s comments about trans identity offensive.

In June, Rowling came under fire for a series of tweets about menstruation that were widely described as “anti-trans”, which she then followed with a lengthy blog post.

The essay was criticised by LGBT+ advocacy groups and others for containing inaccuracies and perpetuating harmful beliefs about transgender people.

“I don’t think what she said was offensive really,” Coltrane told Radio Times. “I don’t know why but there’s a whole Twitter generation of people who hang around waiting to be offended. They wouldn’t have won the war, would they?”

Coltrane continued: “That’s me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, ‘Oh, get over yourself. Wise up, stand up straight and carry on.’”

The Cracker actor declined to comment further, however, adding: “I don’t want to get involved in all of that because of all the hate mail and all that s***, which I don’t need at my time of life.”

Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, and JK Rowling at an awards ceremony in 2019 (Warner Bros/Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Rowling has repeatedly denied she holds transphobic views.

This week (14 September), Rowling has been accused of further transphobia after an early review claimed her latest book Troubled Blood, which she has written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, features a “cross-dressing serial killer”.