Boy George has once again hit out at JK Rowling and insisted to Daily Mail that the pair will never agree or bury the hatchet amid their ongoing war over trans right.
The Culture Club icon, 63, has expressed support for transgender people online, alongside other stars such as Tilda Swinton and Pedro Pascal, who earlier this year branded the Harry Potter author a ‘heinous loser’.
Now in his latest put down George, real name George Alan O’Dowd, praised the ‘amazing’ movie versions of the author’s wizarding novels, before pointing out her ‘lack of involvement’ in the films, which were adapted by other screenwriters.
Rowling, 59, has faced intense criticism from LGBTQ+ activists and several stars of the Harry Potter films, including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, after publicly expressing concerns about gender ideology and single-sex spaces. With her comments branded transphobic by some campaigners.
He told Daily Mail at the Diamonds and Dust Premiere at the Emerald Theatre, London: ‘Do I love her films? Yes, her films are amazing. I love Harry Potter and I’ve read all the books, they’re brilliant,’
‘But remember she didn’t make the films, a lot of brilliant people were in the films, like the actors, and everyone to do with it, it’s just not about her’.
Boy George, 63, has once again hit out at JK Rowling and insisted to Daily Mail that the pair will never agree or bury the hatchet amid their ongoing war over trans rights
The Culture Club icon has expressed support for transgender people online, alongside other stars such as Pedro Pascal, who branded the Harry Potter author a ‘heinous loser’
George praised the ‘amazing’ movie versions of the author’s wizarding novels, before pointing out her ‘lack of involvement’ in the films, which were adapted by other screenwriters
He went to say how important it was to be ‘be nice’ claiming that the majority of those who are concerned about trans issues ‘don’t know anything about it’.
‘JK Rowling doesn’t know any trans people, I do. Since I was 16-years-old I’ve known trans people. I know people with trans kids,’
‘And April Ashley – who was the first woman to transition in this country. She died a couple of years ago, and I photographed her – she was amazing’.
Before adding: ‘Everyone that talks about the trans thing, isn’t trans. JK Rowling isn’t trans, does she even go to the toilet?‘.
He later went on to claim that he would happily choose Donald Trump over Rowling, despite the President’s own controversial views on trans issues and his own 2006 conviction in New York.
‘[Me and Trump] share the same birthday. Ask me a question, Donald Trump, or JK Rowling, I’d pick Donald Trump any day’.
George pleaded guilty to falsely reporting a burglary at his NYC apartment and was ordered to sweep rubbish from the streets for a week as part of his community service.
He has now said that he has even been attempting to get a US visa, despite fellow LGBTQ+ celebs like Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres leaving to live in Europe.
He said: ‘But remember she didn’t make the films. a lot of brilliant people were in the films, like the actors, and everyone to do with it, it’s just not about her’
He went on to claim: ‘JK Rowling doesn’t know any trans people, I do. Since I was 16-years-old I’ve known trans people. I know people with trans kids’
Rowling, 59, has faced intense criticism from several stars of the Harry Potter films, including Daniel Radcliffe (L) and Emma Watson (R) pictured with Rowling and Rupert Grint in 2011
‘I love America though. I’m trying to get a visa, not the opposite. I don’t want to not get a visa, you know what I mean? I love America’.
He continued: ‘I have to say, years ago when I got arrested in New York, and I had to sweep up, I kind of didn’t want to go back, and my little mum – God rest her soul – she said, “You love America, and they love you”‘.
Earlier this year Rowling engaged in a furious war of words with the Karma Chameleon frontman after he accused her of hating men following the Supreme Court‘s ruling on the legal status of transgender women.
Rowling, who also writes under the male pen name of Robert Galbraith, hit out the singer after he said that she could not tell the difference between a transgender woman and a biological man.
Responding to a tweet suggesting that Marvel star Pedro Pascal – an outspoken supporter of trans rights – was a misogynist, the singer wrote: ‘Stop this nonsense that if you don’t agree with @jk_rowling you hate women. She hates men. This is where this truth lies.
‘She cannot differentiate between a ‘trans’ woman and a biological male. Which is weird with her imagination?’
But Rowling – who now tweets almost daily about what she has called ‘sex-based rights’ – fired back with an eye-rolling emoji and the retort: ‘I do not hate men.’
She wrote: ‘I’m married to a man, George. I do not hate men.
‘I simply live in reality where men – however they identify – commit 98 per cent of sexual assaults, and 88 per cent of victims are female.
‘Trans-identified men are no less likely than other kinds of men to pose a risk to women or girls.’
Rowling hit out the singer after he said that she could not tell the difference between a transgender woman and a biological man
Boy George was responding to a tweet criticising Pedro Pascal. The actor (above) has been unequivocal in his support for transgender people (seen in the viral ‘Protect the Dolls’ t-shirt sold in support of trans rights)
She did not elaborate on how many of those committing sexual assaults were thought to be trans.
She then added: ‘Accusing me of hating men because I don’t think trans women should be given access to all women-only spaces does rather suggest that… you’re well aware that these are, in fact, men.’
Rowling has been vocal on the subject of trans people for several years; in 2018, a spokesperson explained that her ‘like’ of a tweet calling trans women ‘men in dresses’ had been a ‘middle-aged moment’.
And following the Supreme Court judgment on April 17, Rowling has consistently referred to transgender women as being ‘men’.
The ruling, on an appeal brought by campaign group For Women Scotland, concluded that the legal definition of a woman was that of a biological female, when interpreting the Equality Act.
