Harry Potter stars’ savage swipe at JK Rowling as they sign letter of support for trans women

HARRY Potter stars have taken a swipe at author JK Rowling by signing a letter supporting trans women.

One is actor Paapa Essiedu, who is set to play Professor Snape in the new wizarding TV series — due out next year.

Paapa Essiedu at the Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards.

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New Professor Snape Paapa Essiedu has signed a letter supporting trans womenCredit: Getty
Katie Leung as Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter movies, also signed the letterCredit: Alamy
Daisy Haggard at the Sky Up Next event.

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Daisy Haggard, who voiced the Ministry Of Magic lift, also signedCredit: Rex

It comes after Ms Rowling backed women who celebrated a recent Supreme Court ruling that biological sex defines a woman in legal terms.

Feminist Ms Rowling, 59, previously locked horns over trans rights with Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, whose careers she launched.

Their relationships publicly deteriorated after Rowling published a 4,000-word essay about trans women on her blog in 2020.

They each responded with statements showing their support for transgender women, saying they could choose who they wanted to be.

Now Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne and Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Potter movies, are among the stars joining Essiedu signing the open letter to film and TV industry bodies.

Ghosts star Charlotte Ritchie — a student in The Goblet Of Fire — and Breeders star Daisy Haggard, who voiced the Ministry Of Magic lift, also signed.

The letter said that the signatories wish to “add our voices to the 2000+ signatories of the Open Letter from UK Writers to the Trans Community published last week”, which was signed by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies and Chewing Gum’s Michaela Coel.

Signatories said: “We believe the ruling undermines the lived reality and threatens the safety of trans, non-binary, and intersex people living in the UK.”

Julia Hartley-Brewer stands with JK Rowling

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Charlotte Ritchie at a screening for Season 5 of Netflix's "You."

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Charlotte Ritchie who played a student in The Goblet Of Fire also signedCredit: Getty
J.K. Rowling and Eddie Redmayne at the HBO "Finding The Way Home" premiere.

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Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne also signed the letterCredit: Getty

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