Tom Felton’s Harry Potter return is off to a rocky start after he was slammed for brushing off J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans views.
Felton, 37, revealed last week that he will be reprising his role as Draco Malfoy in a Harry Potter Broadway play.
While walking the red carpet at Sunday’s Tony Awards, the former child star was asked whether Rowling’s views “impact you at all or impact your work in the world of Harry Potter at all.”
“No, I can’t say it does,” Felton replied. “I’m not really that attuned to it.”
“The only thing I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world—here I am in New York—and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. And she’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”
Felton’s response stands out sharply against many of his co-stars who have publicly distanced themselves from Rowling after the Harry Potter author began espousing anti-trans views, most recently celebrating a U.K. Supreme Court decision that ruled trans women are not legally women.
The backlash online to Felton’s Potter-over-politics posture was swift, with some accusing him of choosing a paycheck over taking a stand.
“That’s called ‘turning a blind eye’, Tom,” one Reddit user wrote. “‘Not attuned to it’, in other words, he’s choosing money over morals, at least say it as it is.”
Over on X, another user suggested Felton wasn’t far off from the character he once played, who spends most of the franchise on Voldemort’s side: “A coward just like Malfoy.”
In the same vein, users posted GIFs of an infamous scene where Voldemort (standing in for Rowling) awkwardly embraces Draco.
Others invoked Pedro Pascal’s furious response to Rowling’s celebration of the U.K. Supreme Court’s decision, when blasted her, “Heinous LOSER behavior.”
Felton’s co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all spoken out in support of trans rights in response to Rowling’s anti-trans advocacy—much to her dismay.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Radcliffe—who portrayed the titular character across eight films—acknowledged Rowling’s impact in his life but said it “doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
Felton is set to make his Broadway debut in November, stepping back into the role of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
