Two queer television directors have gone public with the same answer when HBO came calling about its upcoming Harry Potter series: no.
Two directors, one answer
Ally Pankiw, who has directed episodes of Shrill and The Great, shared a screenshot on Instagram of a text exchange with her agent, who asked if she had any interest in meeting about the series. Her response: a flat no, followed by a caption noting how simple it was to decline funding transphobia. In the comments, Kate Herron, known for directing Loki and episodes of Sex Education and The Last of Us, revealed she'd been approached twice and turned the offer down both times.
They've asked me twice and I've had to explain my answer is never going to change from a no.
Kate Herron
Pankiw responded by publicly thanking Herron for taking the same stance, noting that saying no a second time is harder than saying it once. The exchange has circulated widely among fans who've spent years debating whether it's possible to separate the Harry Potter franchise from its creator.
Rowling's money is doing more than funding a franchise
The directors' objection isn't abstract. J.K. Rowling has spent years using her fortune, built largely on the Harry Potter franchise now estimated to be worth $25 billion, to bankroll legal efforts against transgender rights in the U.K. and Ireland. Her JK Rowling Women's Fund has quietly operated since late 2024 and was publicly announced in 2025, financing legal support for people and groups fighting to keep trans women out of single-sex spaces and challenging inclusion policies. Reported gender-critical belief employment cases have climbed from single digits annually between 2018 and 2021 to 10 to 13 a year in 2024 and 2025, a rise that has coincided with the fund's rollout.
Rowling's activism has already reshaped British law. In 2024, she donated £70,000 to For Women Scotland after the group lost a legal challenge to a Scottish law recognizing trans women as women. The group appealed, and the U.K. Supreme Court ultimately ruled that trans women aren't covered as women under the Equality Act, a landmark loss for trans protections that traces back in part to Rowling's funding.
Cast members are taking a different path
Rowling serves as an executive producer on the HBO series, meaning its success will further fund her legal campaigns. That hasn't stopped actors from signing on. Bel Powley and Paapa Essiedu, cast as Petunia Dursley and Severus Snape, have each spoken in favor of trans rights while accepting their roles. Nick Frost, playing Hagrid, has said his views differ from Rowling's but that she's entitled to hold them. John Lithgow, cast as Dumbledore, has called her positions both
Source: LGBTQ Nation
Cover photo: Israyosoy S. / Pexels
