J. K. Rowling has slammed her former colleagues in a new book after making some controversial remarks about the transgender community over the past few years.
The 58-year-old took aim at some of her former Harry Potter colleagues in a segment of her new book titled 'The Women Who Wouldn’t Say Wheesht,' referring to them as "despicable."
An extract, which was shared with The Times, gave a broader perspective on the author's relationship with both her new and old colleagues, stating that they were not all that "surprising" to her.
But what was surprising was the fact that some of them still wanted to be "friends" afterward.
"In truth, the condemnation of certain individuals was far less surprising to me than the fact that some of them then emailed me, or sent messages through third parties, to check that we were still friends," she wrote in the excerpt.
"The thing is, those appalled by my position often fail to grasp how truly despicable I find theirs," she continued. "I’ve watched 'no debate' become the slogan of those who once posed as defenders of free speech. I’ve witnessed supposedly progressive men arguing that women don’t exist as an observable biological class and don’t deserve biology-based rights.
Rowling went on to double down on her previous views, emphasizing that she believes this social shift is a threat to women's rights.
"I’ve listened as certain female celebrities insist that there isn’t the slightest risk to women and girls in allowing any man who self-identifies as a woman to enter single-sex spaces reserved for women, including changing rooms, bathrooms or rape shelters," she wrote in the book before adding: "Better that a hundred women who aren’t up to speed with the latest gender jargon miss public health information than that one trans-identified individual feels invalidated, seems to be the view."
It comes shortly after the notorious Harry Potter writer replied to a comment on X in which a fan stated that they were waiting for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who have been public about their views on the issue, standing against Rowling.
A follower wrote: "Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology... safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them..." to which the author responded: "Not safe, I'm afraid."
She continued: "Celebs who cozied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single-sex spaces."
Just two weeks after the statement on social media, Radcliffe, best known for his portrayal of Harry Potter in Rowling's iconic franchise, addressed the remarks.
In an interview with The Atlantic, he said that he was sad at what has happened.
"It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic," Radcliffe said of Rowling's controversial comments.
"Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person," he noted. "But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life."
He also emphasized that Rowling's views were not reflective of his own.
"I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments. And to say that if those are Jo’s views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the Potter franchise," he added.
