Brutal X post dismisses 67-year-old comedian who voiced all seven audiobooks after he branded her ‘lost cause’ who’s been brainwashed by ‘TERFs’
JK Rowling has delivered a devastating blow to Stephen Fry, claiming they were never actually friends after the beloved comedian branded her a “lost cause” who’s been “radicalised by TERFs.”
The Harry Potter author, 59, posted the cutting response on X after barrister Jo Maugham shared Fry’s controversial comments about her stance on transgender issues.
In what appears to be a direct swipe at the 67-year-old presenter who narrated all seven Harry Potter audiobooks, Rowling wrote: “It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to have been a friend of mine was ever considered a friend by me.”
FRY’S ‘LOST CAUSE’ BOMBSHELL
The extraordinary public falling out comes after Fry appeared on The Show People podcast, where he launched an unprecedented attack on the author he once called a friend.
She has been radicalised I fear and it may be she has been radicalised by TERFs,” the comedian told host Andrew Keates during the live recording at London’s Two Brewers pub.
He added grimly: “It is unhelpful and only hardens her and will only continue to harden her I am afraid.”
In his most damning assessment yet, Fry declared: “She seems to be a lost cause for us.”
‘CHARMING’ TO ‘CRUEL’
The V for Vendetta star revealed how his perception of Rowling had dramatically shifted since she began speaking out on gender issues.
“I am sorry because I always liked her company. I found her charming, funny and interesting,” Fry admitted.
“Then this thing happened and it completely altered the way she talks and engages with the world now.”
He accused her of saying things that are “really cruel, wrong and mocking” and expressed anger that she doesn’t “disavow some of the more revolting and truly horrible, violently destructive things that people say.
AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR TURNS
Fry’s attack marks a stunning betrayal for Rowling, given his intimate connection to the Harry Potter franchise through his beloved audiobook narrations.
The actor voiced all seven Harry Potter audiobooks and even narrated her 2020 fairytale The Ickabog during the pandemic.
As recently as 2021, Fry had insisted: “She’s a friend and will remain a friend,” despite admitting his transgender friends were “deeply upset” by her views.
‘RADICALISED’ CLAIM
In perhaps his most controversial claim, Fry suggested Rowling had been brainwashed by both gender-critical feminists and their critics.
“She has been radicalised by TERFs, but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her,” he stated on the podcast.
The acronym TERF – standing for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” – is used by transgender activists to describe those who believe biological sex cannot be changed.
ROWLING STANDS FIRM
The author has remained steadfast in her views despite facing years of online abuse and death threats.
In June, she posted on X: “I find it highly offensive when women are told they must pretend some men are the same as they are, that their right to tell the truth about sex must be set aside in favour of affirming men’s fantasies about themselves.
She has also established The J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund to finance legal representation for “individuals fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights.
HARRY POTTER STARS DIVIDED
Fry joins Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in publicly criticising Rowling’s stance on transgender issues.
“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe stated in 2020, adding that any contrary statement “erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”
Watson declared: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned.”
ROWLING’S REVENGE
The author has previously made clear she won’t forgive the Harry Potter stars who’ve turned against her.
“Celebs who cosied 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,” she wrote on X.
When asked which actors “instantly ruin a movie,” she replied: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.”
DEFENDING WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Gender critical activist Maya Forstater leapt to Rowling’s defence, dismissing Fry’s claims as “utter nonsense.”
The idea that men are men and women are women is not a radical view,” Forstater told GB News.
“What she’s done is stand up for women’s rights.”
FRY’S ABOUT-TURN
The comedian’s latest comments represent a dramatic shift from his previous attempts to remain neutral in the debate.
In 2022, he described it as “an issue where two sides are very sore and very anxious about their enemies” and said he didn’t want to “abandon” either his friendship with Rowling or his trans friends.
Now, it appears, he has made his choice – and Rowling has made brutally clear that the friendship he’s abandoning never existed in the first place.
Do you think JK Rowling is right to stand her ground? Have your say in the comments below
