Heartstopper’s Sebastian Croft is the latest star to explain his J.K. Rowling association
Sebastian Croft, who voices a character in the Hogwarts Legacy game, denounces J.K. Rowling's transphobia in a new statement
Aux News his J.K. Rowling
You know things are bad when everyone either has to publicly defend themselves or apologize for working with you. At this point, anyone with a connection to J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter (and many who don’t!) have had to clarify their own views on her ongoing transphobia. That now includes cast members of the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy video game, specifically Sebastian Croft, who voices one of the two playable characters in the game.
After fans expressed their dismay at Croft’s involvement on Twitter, the Heartstopper star responded, “I was cast in this project over 3 years ago, back when all Harry Potter was to me, was the magical world I grew up with. This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views. I believe whole heartedly [sic] that trans women are women and trans men are men.”
“I know far more now than I did 3 years ago, and hope to learn far more in the next 3,” the actor continued. “I’m really sorry to anyone hurt by this announcement. There is no LGB without the T.”
According to a Hogwarts Legacy FAQ, Rowling “is not involved in the creation of the game,” though the creators “collaborated closely with her team on all aspects of the game.” Per NME, WB Games president David Haddad addressed her continued controversy during a company Q&A.
“While J.K. Rowling is the creator of Harry Potter, and we are bringing that world to life with the power of Portkey, in many places, she’s a private citizen also,” he said. “And that means she’s entitled to express her personal opinion on social media. I may not agree with her, and I might not agree with her stance on a range of topics, but I can agree she has the right to hold her opinions.”
41 Comments
But you have agreed to help put more money and thus power behind those bigoted opinions.
“Money. I’m associated with Rowling because money.”
It sounds like it’s because this game has been in development for like four years and the voice work was recorded before Rowling went crazy. Seems like a valid explanation to me.
“went crazy” aka started publicly espousing the same thing 99% of people have believed for hundreds of years. surrre, it was JK that went crazy. not society. keep telling yourself that
Fuck J.K. Rowling
Soooooo brave
I think JKR is a piece of shit for her views and this guy’s explanation seems very good. It’s not like he can remove his voice from the game or something. What he’s said is valid.
Pretty much. Being a VA is basically a contractor who takes anything thrown at them. Its not easy.
I’m seeing double, four Timothée Chalamets!
*Timothées Chalamet
I knew it’d be you the one to point it out.
Look, I have one job on this website! It’s stupid, but I’m going to do it, okay?!
You’re like a non-insufferable Volunteer Proofreader.
Jeremys Iron.
Hah! I kept trying to remember that line.
*Timotheaux Chalamet
This guy’s eyes are bigger. He looks like a live-action anime character here.
I’m seein’ double here! Four Narutos! No wait, that’s normal for him.
Must be nice for his critics to be able to turn down paychecks…
“but I can agree she has the right to hold her opinions”I really wish we would stop tolerating this kind of statement. And I don’t even know what I mean by that. lol I guess I wish someone were able to push back against these statements in an actual conversation with the person. Was this a live Q&A? Why did no one follow up here with: NO ONE SAID SHE DOESN’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO HOLD AN OPINION. Literally no one. Stop saying you “agree” she can have an opinion just to pretend you’re being reasonable and finding common ground. Whether she’s allowed to have an opinion isn’t the point of contention here. If all you have to say is she has a right to her opinion, you might as well just say “no comment.”
Thank god he said it. None of us anywhere understood she “has a right to her opinion” until right now.
But if she’s cancelled by the Woke Mob (TM) what has she got left? Just her millions of pounds/dollars/euros and her castle and her publishing royalties in perpetuity!
That’s no way to live!
I would take all those things in exchange for being cancelled by a woke mob. Do I have to say something unfounded and controversial first? Fine. “Puppies are not cute and not lovable.” There.
FFFFUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKKKK
Career level up secured
holy moly what a comment section. you are all psychos, all of you. JK Rowling has said nothing wrong and this “trans women are women. trans me are men” statement is some bizarro boilerplate hollywood humiliation ritual. of course they aren’t. and thank god he at least had the guts to say she IS indeed entitled to her (correct and obvious) opinion
Fuck off back to Legoland you cunt!
Yeah, we were all about to amend international law to make it so JK Rowling specifically would no longer have the right to express an opinion. Thank goodness whatshisname said that and saved free speech forever.
not even a joke. if you would, you could. you’ll do everything up to that point to smear and slander and force anyone who’s ever met her to do a public apology. what a joke and you people all prop it up unthinkingly
Just shrieking, flailing, in the face of people you’ve made up.
log into twitter bro. talk to a university student. i’m not making any people up. they’re real and they’re insane
Oh, so when you say “people want this” you mean, like, individual people. Like, 30 people in the world? Outlawing speech is not a mainstream position on the left. You’re thinking of the aspiring autocrats on the right who are banning speech and books and whatnot.
people are the gender they say they are. the more I read and learn about gender, and how historically trans and two spirited people existed in the world for pretty much all of it, and for most of human history were celebrated, the more I realize how limited someone like Rowling is in their views. The moment you start letting go of the binary, the more the world opens up to something a lot more magical than the limits society tries to put you. You can argue it’s boileplate, but really people are just returning to something that has existed far longer than the current conservative view of gender that exists now.
‘two spirited people’. there isn’t an emoji created that demonstrates a big enough eye roll for that. get a grip bro this stuff is tiktok fluff some teenage bluehair made up to justify their mental disorder. men and women is ‘a conservative view of gender’ now. please. the other people exist but its a joke to pretend they ‘are’ men or women just because they claim it. people lie for all types of reasons
lol what? two spirited is literally an umbrella indigenous term that encompasses the 1000s of years of celebration of those with both genders, or those that transitioned in Indigenous culture. India also celebrated Queer spectrums of gender pre-colonization. If you think this is some new modern concept, you’re way off lol. It’s a lot more natural of a state of being.
All I’ve seen here so far is people disagreeing with Rowling, and those like her. That hardly comes across as “psycho” – which is an ableist term, not that I imagine you care – in the least. You, however, talking about a “hollywood [sic] humiliation ritual” as if that’s a thing that’s meant to make sense, come across as really unhinged about something that doesn’t affect you in the slightest.
You’re talking about two different people, the actor who does the voice does not think she should be constantly talking about her dangerous opinions all the time
These types of articles always make me eager to hear the AV Club writers explain their association with the horrible people who run PEF Great Hill Partners.There are shitting people out there that we all are forced to either associate with or sometimes even do things that they profit from. Unless a person publicly supports a shitty view by a shitty person, I think we can put the pitch forks down.
Croft is fine, voice work is hard you take what you get and 2019 was only the beginning of her outward Terfness. I’m not buying the game, but I have no ill will towards him or other voice actors. Now David Haddad, well he can shove it with the whole I agree she has a right to an opinion. No shit, she’s human she can. Its the consequences of her actions for having a right to say shit I care about. Because a billionaire in a castle is the last person who should complain about silence and cancelation.
Really fucking important you clarify this, it’s WB Games president David Haddad that’s saying the bullshit about opinions, not Croft.