It’s hard to avoid social media posts and comments from “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” creator J.K. Rowling that are a not so veiled attempt to belittle the trans community. The writer continues to double-down on those transphobic comments every couple of weeks by adding some new ridiculous sentiments or defenses of previous statements.
Well, “Pink Flamingos” director John Waters, an openly gay man and provocateur, had a nifty solution for Rowling’s transphobia while speaking to the New York Times about “cancel culture” in a cheeky new interview.
“A good thing we are not going retroactive here because practically every artist would be canceled. I have a thing about who I would cancel: J.K. Rowling. Give her some Preparation H for that transphobia. What’s the matter with her?”
In the same response, he also commented on Johnny Depp being cancelled for his alleged domestic abuse by sharing his own experience with him, “I’m not going to go through each person who’s been canceled and say what I think, but I never saw Johnny Depp act negatively to a woman in my entire life — and I did drugs and got drunk with him.”
The filmmaker previously worked with Depp on the comedy “Cry Baby” and had been recently replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in the Grindelwald role for “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”
Waters is no stranger to receiving widespread attention for his opinions, but most of the time they’re satirical in nature and done for humor/shock value. His body of work speaks for itself as he has always embraced the absurd and weird alike, making him a great voice for those who feel like outsiders or those who might not have as large of a platform as Rowling, like the trans community that she continues to harass.
READ MORE: Emma Watson Voices Support For Trans Community After J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Comments
There have been calls for Rowling’s publisher and Warner Bros. to sever ties with the author and sometime screenwriter because of those reckless and harmful transphobic comments, but with no real consequences, it’s only emboldened Rowling to keep spewing nonsense on the internet. Rowling’s only real slap on the wrist was that she wasn’t asked to participate in HBO Max‘s recent “Harry Potter” reunion special.
I guess we’ll have to see how long companies like WarnerMedia are willing to work with her. As Disney catches deserved heat for donations made to supporters of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the parent company of Warners, AT&T, has also given money to those politicians but hasn’t seen the same level of public pressure.