EXCLUSIVE: J.K. Rowling’s longtime agent Neil Blair has backed his consumer amid renewed deal with the writer’s transgender views as buzz builds for the HBO Harry Potter collection.
In a press release shared with Deadline, The Blair Partnership founding accomplice mentioned he was proud to characterize Rowling, including that his company stands by freedom of expression.
The intervention got here in response to a Deadline story, which explores how Rowling’s hardening rhetoric on transgender rights comes into battle with range, fairness, and inclusion insurance policies at Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC.
Rowling, who penned the Strike novels tailored by the BBC, has gone from saying she stands by transgender individuals’s proper to stay authentically and comfortably, to refusing to make use of most well-liked pronouns and describing some trans girls as “crossdressers.”
Blair mentioned: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jo Rowling for over 25 years. All through that point, I’ve watched and admired her charitable work and courageous campaigning on so many points, whereas on the identical time turning into the extraordinary, prolific bestselling author she is in the present day.
“As an company, it’s our honour and accountability to champion the rights of all our shoppers to specific their ideas and beliefs, and we consider in freedom of speech. As such, I’m proud to characterize Jo.”
Blair is the most recent business determine to declare their help for Rowling. At an occasion in London this month, HBO chief Casey Bloys mentioned he was “completely comfy” with Rowling’s involvement within the Harry Potter collection.
Different business figures have additionally stood by Rowling’s work. In a Deadline profile of Harry Potter showrunner Francesca Gardiner, her former mentor The X-Information author Frank Spotnitz, mentioned: “The Harry Potter books are deeply humanist, empathetic, enlightened work. Individuals can disagree about different issues, however I believe they deserve the place they maintain in our tradition.”
There may be little signal that Rowling’s views are impacting her gross sales. Pottermore Publishing, the digital audiobook and e-book writer for Harry Potter, revealed this week that it had a report 12 months, with revenues of £48.8M ($62M) within the 12 months to the top of March 2024.
