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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Ellie Harrison and Thomas Kingsley

JK Rowling – latest: First episode of Harry Potter author’s new podcast airs

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‘I never set out to upset anyone’: JK Rowling speaks out over trans controversy in podcast teaser

The first episode of a new podcast featuring JK Rowling has aired where she addresses her controversial remarks on transgender rights.

In a forthcoming seven-episode podcast titled The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author sits down with US writer Megan Phelps-Roper at her home in Edinburgh.

Phelps-Roper is the granddaughter of Fred Phelps – pastor of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church. After leaving the church in 2012, Phelps-Roper became a prominent critic of its philosophy and practices.

“I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal,” Rowling says in the trailer.

“What has interested me in recent years, particularly on social media [is when fans say], ‘You’ve ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.’ And I think: ‘You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.’”

Trans YouTuber Natalie Wynn, who is known as ContraPoints, has apologised for agreeing to be interviewed for the podcast.

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