Tom Felton’s Controversial JK Rowling Remarks Ignite Social Media MELTDOWN

Harry Potter star Tom Felton sparked social media meltdown when he revealed his feelings on the franchise’s controversial author JK Rowling at the Tony Awards 2025 on Sunday. 

The actor, now 37, who portrayed Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies from 2001 until 2011 and will reprise the role for for the Broadway show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, refused to criticize the woman who launched his career in a candid Variety interview. 

When asked if asked if the controversy around the author’s views affect his work, the star replied: ‘No, I can’t say it does. I’m not really that attuned.

‘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.’

Given that the backlash surrounding Rowling centers on comments she has made about transgender identity—remarks widely condemned as transphobic—Felton’s comments quickly ignited a wave of both backlash and support online. 

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Many fans praised the actor. 

‘Thank goodness someone in that franchise learned not to bite the hand that feeds him,’ one wrote, as another added, ‘Who would have thought Draco would be the most level-headed.’

Another fan commented, ‘The fact that Felton remained so cheerful/loyal about the series where he plays the villainous punching bag and the main three became so jaded and separated from what gave them their current lives shows God still has a sense of humor.’

Still another chimed in, ‘What a classy response. Tom stays winning.’

Yet another applauded him, writing, ‘Good for him, I’m glad he didn’t fold to the pressure like the others did a few years ago. She’s an amazing advocate for women, such a fighter and totally brilliant.’

But others took issue with Felton’s support of Rowling.

One user subtly dragged the actor, writing, ‘Who is this guy who thinks Harry Potter is a cultural zenith — and why are we listening to him?’

Another slammed him, posting, ‘What would a privileged straight white cis-male know about the oppression faced by my trans colleagues?’

And one summed it up bluntly: ‘I mean, you should distance yourself from Rowling. Her Harry Potter profits go to anti-transgender organizations.’

During the interview with Variety, Felton went on to express his excitement about the upcoming Broadway production. 

‘I think we all thought the wizarding world would slowly… that the fandom flame might douse over the years, but clearly it’s not.’ 

‘I think the most exciting part is to do it live. It took nine months, more or less, to shoot a film. And this is all compact. This is all reimagined into a very lovely new, tight story. And I get to be a dad, which has been fun.’

And now, 14 years after the film series came to an end, he has revealed that he will reprise the role for the Broadway show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Tom will join the cast in November and star in the show for 19 weeks, concluding his run in March 2026.

He shared the exciting news on the Today show on Thursday morning, stating, ‘Being a part of the Harry Potter films has been one of the greatest honors of my life.

‘Joining this production will be a full-circle moment for me, because when I begin performances in Cursed Child this fall, I’ll also be the exact age Draco is in the play.’

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, based off a screenplay written by J. K. Rowling, takes place 19 years after the original series ended.

It follows Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco’s kids as they head off to Hogwarts.

Harry’s son Albus and Draco’s son Scorpius become best friends and get up to their own adventure – and almost destroy the entire wizarding world along the way.

‘It’s surreal to be stepping back into his shoes – and of course his iconic platinum blond hair – and I am thrilled to be able to see his story through and to share it with the greatest fan community in the world,’ Tom added.

‘I look forward to joining this incredible company and being a part of the Broadway community.’ 

After news of Felton’s casting went viral, Rowling appeared thrilled, reposting the announcement on X with a flurry of snake and green heart emojis. 

Tom’s interview comes just months after J.K. Rowling appeared to take a swipe at Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint in a March social media post shared with her 14.3 million followers.

The 59-year-old author penned a biting response apparently hinting to the trio in response to the question: ‘What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?’

Without missing a beat, Rowling cryptically wrote: ‘Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.’

She ended her post with three laughing emojis.

Many of her followers widely interpreted her riposte as a nod to the three child stars who played the lead roles in the successful franchise.

Relations between the multi-millionaire author and the actors – who rose to prominence thanks to the Harry Potter films – have been frosty for years because of Rowling’s views on trans rights.

Last year she publicly stated that she could not ‘forgive’ Radcliffe and Watson or other celebrities who ‘cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights’.

The comments were made following the publication of the long-awaited Cass report into gender treatment in the UK, which recommended that changes should be made to the way young people are advised and puberty blockers should no longer be prescribed.

Rowling hit out at stars who use their ‘platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors’ and said people who supported gender transitioning in children should apologise to ‘traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces’.

The writer has been vocal in her opposition of allowing children to change their gender, while Radcliffe and Watson have been outspoken in their support of the trans community. 

Following the publication of the Cass report many people who have expressed misgivings over allowing children to transition claimed they have been vindicated.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rowling said at the time that it was a ‘watershed’ moment and that it ‘lays bare the tragedy’ of allowing children to transition.

But when someone claimed that Radcliffe and Watson owe her ‘a very public apology… safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them’, Rowling responded by saying: ‘Not safe, I’m afraid.’

She added: ‘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.’

Rowling later wrote: ‘Kids have been irreversibly harmed, and thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media and cynical corporations.

‘The consequences of this scandal will play out for decades. You cheered it on. You did all you could to impede and misrepresent research. You tried to bully people out of their jobs for opposing you. Young people have been experimented on, left infertile and in pain.

‘I thought the last tweet was going to be my last, but I just burst into tears. The #CassReview may be a watershed moment, but it comes too late for detransitioners who’ve written me heartbreaking letters of regret. 

‘Today’s not a triumph, it’s the laying bare of a tragedy.’

Radcliffe has openly spoken about his rift with Rowling and said in an interview last May that his beliefs don’t have to align with the author’s just because she made him a star.

The actor, 34, and fellow Harry Potter stars Emma Watson, 34, and Rupert Grint, 35, have been outspoken in their support of gender ideology – that biologically male trans women are actually women.

Yet although Radcliffe admitted ‘nothing in my life’ would likely have happened if not for Rowling.

In an interview with The Atlantic, he revealed that he had not spoken to Rowling for years, which had upset him.

He added: ‘Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person. 

‘But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.’

He added: ‘It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.’

Watson has also openly hinted at the furore with Rowling.

In 2022, Baftas host Rebel Wilson invited the actress onto the stage saying: ‘Here to present the next award is Emma Watson. She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.’

But when Watson arrived on stage, she said, ‘I’m here for all the witches!’, in a way that many interpreted as an open dig at Rowling.