Harry Potter star Afshan Azad has shown her support for the franchise amid its other stars speaking out in opposition of JK Rowling over her views on transgender rights.
Harry Potter author Rowling, 59, has repeatedly made headlines for her vocal TERF views and controversially celebrated the Supreme Court’s judgment that trans women are not legally women.
Justices in London ruled last week that in the 2010 Equality Act, the definition of the term ‘women’ relates only to biological women, and Rowling reportedly helped fund the campaign group which brought the case.
There have been widespread protests following the ruling and Harry Potter’s Sean Biggerstaff – who portrayed Oliver Wood in three movies – passionately condemned Rowling.
Biggerstaff showed his solidarity with the wizarding franchise’s leading stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who have all spoken out against Rowling in the past but have so far not commented on the ruling.
Amid the ongoing row, Azad – who is well-recognised for having starred as Padma Patil in five of the eight movies – has shown her support for the wider franchise.
Harry Potter star Afshan Azad has shown her support for the franchise amid its other stars speaking out in opposition of JK Rowling, sharing a photograph of herself at a convention
Harry Potter author Rowling, 59, has made headlines for her TERF views and controversially celebrated the Supreme Court’s judgment that trans women are not legally women
Though not mentioning the recent storm, Azad took to Instagram in the days following Rowling’s comments on the ruling to share a tribute to the wizarding franchise.
She posted a photograph of herself grinning alongside a poster of herself starring as Patil as she attended German Potter Con at Arenfels Castle in Neuwied.
Remaining silent on the Supreme Court ruling, she gushed over how ‘lucky’ she is to still be involved with the wizarding franchise 24 years after the first movie hit screens.
In a seeming show of support, she penned in a caption: ‘I was once in a film you may have watched.. how lucky are we that we still get to travel to meet our incredible fans!’
MailOnline has contacted Azad for comment.
Azad starred as Padma Patil in five of the Harry Potter films, starting with 2005’s Goblet of Fire, with Shefali Chowdhury playing her twin sister Parvati Patil.
The Manchester-born star also appeared in 2007’s Order of the Phoenix, 2009’s The Half-Blood Prince and both of the final films, The Deathly Hallows’ Parts 1 and 2.
The actress has previously thanked Rowling for launching her career after other Harry Potter child stars have distanced themselves from the embattled author.
Amid the ongoing row, the Padma Patil star (pictured in the Goblet of Fire) remained silent on the controversy but shared a post about how ‘lucky’ she feels to be involved with Harry Potter
Azad (second left) starred as Padma in five of the Harry Potter films, starting with 2005’s Goblet of Fire, with Shefali Chowdhury playing her twin sister Parvati Patil (far left)
Back in 2021, Azad, took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to say she ‘owes everything’ to Rowling and Harry Potter’s casting directors.
‘When the Philosophers Stone film came out I was sucked into the magical world like every other kid,’ she penned at the time.
‘Little did I know years later I’d audition for a role that would change my entire life upside down. I owe everything to JK Rowling, the casting agents and the Potter films.’
Rowling has faced much backlash from the Harry Potter child stars over her views and has been branded a ‘bigot’ after the latest Supreme Court ruling.
Oliver Wood actor Biggerstaff condemned Rowling’s post about the Supreme Court ruling, in which she raised her glass and smoked a cigar on her $150million superyacht in celebration.
After the picture prompted accusations she was ‘smoking a blunt’, she hit back on social media, clarifying that it was ‘objectively, provably and demonstratively a cigar’.
Responding to her post, Biggerstaff claimed the billionaire writer had no sense of humour about the comments, writing: ‘Bigotry rots the wit.’
He also backed one person who compared her to Andrew Tate for puffing on a cigar, much like the self-proclaimed misogynist does in his own videos, which many argue stir violence against women.
It comes after Harry Potter’s Sean Biggerstaff (pictured at a convention in February) – who portrayed Oliver Wood in three movies – passionately condemned Rowling after the ruling
The tweet read: ‘lol, huffing on a cigar now? Is she Andrew Tate?’ with Biggerstaff simply re-posting the words to his own profile.
Rowling had shared a picture of Susan Smith and Marion Calder, co-directors of For Women Scotland, celebrating the ruling and told people not to ‘f**k with Scottish women’.
However, Scotsman Biggerstaff clapped back with: ‘The majority of Scottish women, who don’t agree with these d**kheads, aren’t being bankrolled by an obsessed billionaire,’ referencing reports that Rowling helped fund the case.
He also showed solidarity with the leading Harry Potter trio as he slammed one user who referred to Radcliffe, Watson and Grint as ‘disloyal bags of s**t’ for speaking out against Rowling, asking how they are doing today.
In response, an unimpressed Biggerstaff said: ‘You don’t have to wonder. You know what they’re doing – leading happy and successful lives, having not driven their families away with their hateful obsessions.’
Biggerstaff additionally rubbished accusations that Rowling – who is currently having her Harry Potter books adapted into a new TV series – was ‘cast out’ and ‘smeared’ for her views.
Responding to one post, Biggerstaff quipped: ‘Christ, if that’s what being cast out looks like I’ll take some,’ referring to her net worth of approximately £1billion.
Biggerstaff shared further general posts defending the transgender community as he shared his opposition to the Supreme Court ruling, arguing that the ‘loudest voices’ were ‘using concern for sex-based rights as cover for entirely reactionary politics’.
Meanwhile, leading Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have so far remained silent after speaking out against Rowling in the past (all pictured in May 2004)
‘Today is just a torrent of people being willfully simple-minded. A performance of pragmatism to cloak their instinctive distaste for the Other,’ he added in another post.
Biggerstaff starred in first two Harry Potter movies – The Philosopher’s Stone and the Chamber of Secrets – and returned for a brief, uncredited cameo in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
Though forthrightly speaking out against Rowling herself, Biggerstaff remains involved with the wider Harry Potter universe and often attends fan conventions.
He most recently appeared at a signing at the Gibert-Joseph bookstore in France in February 2025 and attended another meet and greet in Italy in December 2024.
Biggerstaff additionally appeared at the New England WizardFest & Magic Convention in Boxborough in August 2023.
The Supreme Court case saw judges rule that trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if ‘proportionate’.
It marked the culmination of a long-running legal battle between the Scottish government and women’s group For Women Scotland over the definition of a ‘woman’ in Scottish law.
The case centred on whether somebody with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) recognising their gender as female should be protected from discrimination as a woman under the Equality Act.
In his diatribe against Rowling, Biggerstaff responded to her controversial post about the Supreme Court ruling, in which she raised her glass and smoked a cigar on her superyacht
He also showed solidarity with the leading Harry Potter trio as he slammed one user who referred to Radcliffe, Watson and Grint as ‘disloyal bags of s**t’ for speaking out
Biggerstaff additionally rubbished accusations that billionaire Rowling – who is currently having her Harry Potter books adapted into a new TV series – was ‘cast out’ for her views
The Scottish government had argued that such people were entitled to sex-based protections, meaning a transgender person with a GRC certificate identifying them as female would count towards women’s quota.
But campaign group For Women Scotland claimed they only applied to people born female.
The Supreme Court ruled that the words ‘sex’, ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the Equality Act must mean ‘biological sex’, rejecting any alternative interpretations as ‘incoherent and impracticable’.
Rowling reacted last Wednesday by posting on X: ‘It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. @ForWomenScot, I’m so proud to know you.’
She later added: ‘Trans people have lost zero rights today, although I don’t doubt some (not all) will be furious that the Supreme Court upheld women’s sex-based rights.’
Amid Rowling’s divisive celebrations, leading Harry Potter stars Radcliffe, Watson and Grint have so far remained silent after speaking out against her in the past.
They have previously spoken publicly in support of gender ideology – that biologically male trans women should be regarded as women – which Rowling disagrees with.
The author herself appeared to aim a jibe at them last month, when sharing on her X account a response to another user who asked: ‘What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?’
Biggerstaff appeared in the first two Harry Potter movies – The Philosopher’s Stone and the Chamber of Secrets – and returned for a brief, uncredited cameo in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Rowling wrote: ‘Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.’
She previously indicated in April last year she would not forgive Radcliffe nor Watson as she criticised celebrities she said had ‘cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights’.
She hit out at stars accused of using their ‘platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors’ after the release of the long-awaited Cass report into gender treatment in the UK.
That government-commissioned study deemed there to be ‘remarkably weak evidence’ for gender-affirming techniques in children such as puberty blockers.
When one fan said they were ‘just waiting for Dan and Emma [Watson]’ to offer a ‘very public apology’ knowing they’d be safe in the knowledge the author would forgive them, Rowling wrote: ‘Not safe I’m afraid.
‘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 for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.’
