After her notable absence from the recent “Harry Potter” reunion special, J.K. Rowling attended the premiere of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” on Tuesday at The Royal Festival Hall in London.
When “Harry Potter” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reunited earlier this year for the HBO Max special “Return to Hogwarts,” which celebrated the 20th anniversary of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Rowling decided to sit out. While the author and franchise creator was invited to participate in the reunion, she declined, causing HBO Max to use archival footage of Rowling from 2019 instead.
Rowling is a co-screenwriter and producer of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which is the third installment of the “Harry Potter” spinoff franchise. The film premieres on April 15 in the United States.
A polarizing figure, Rowling has been outspoken on social media about her views on transgender people and opposition to laws that make it easier for trans people to legally change their genders. While Rowling has expressed “trans lives matter” in the past, she has been linked to the TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) movement, which generally supports the claim that trans women are not women.
Also absent from the premiere was Ezra Miller, who stars in the movie as Credence Barebone. On Monday, Miller was arrested by law enforcement in Hilo, Hawaii, and charged for disorderly conduct and harassment after an incident at a bar.
According to the Hawaii County Police Department, South Hilo officers responded to a report of a disorderly bar patron on Sunday evening at 11:30 p.m. Police determined that the Miller had become unruly while other patrons sang karaoke and had begun “yelling obscenities.” The actor then “grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts.”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Katherine Waterston, Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler and Callum Turner.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 29: JK Rowling attends the “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” world premiere at The Royal Festival Hall on March 29, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)
Getty Images for Warner Bros.