“Black Mirror ”filmmaker shades HBO’s“ Harry Potter ”after declining gig on show: ‘Easy to say no to funding transphobia’
“Black Mirror ”filmmaker shades HBO’s“ Harry Potter ”after declining gig on show: ‘Easy to say no to funding transphobia’
Wesley StenzelThu, August 13, 2026 at 10:34 PM UTC
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Dominic McLaughlin on ‘Harry Potter’Credit: Aidan Monaghan/HBOKey points -
Ally Pankiw shared a screenshot from a conversation in which she declined the opportunity to join HBO’s Harry Potter.
The Black Mirror director wrote, “It simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia!”
Another prominent TV director, Kate Herron, shared about a similar experience in the comments: “They’ve asked me twice.”
A prominent TV director is shading J.K. Rowling and everyone involved with adapting her work for HBO’s new Harry Potter series.
Ally Pankiw, the director of multiple episodes of shows like Black Mirror and The Great, shared a screenshot of a text conversation with one of her representatives in which she swiftly declined the opportunity to potentially join the Wizarding World as a director.
“I have an instinct on the answer but I feel compelled to ask,” the representative said in the text message. “Harry Potter? Hard no?”
“Absolutely f---ing not! Lol,” Pankiw responded. “(But thank you for asking)”
The representative shot back, “Of course :) I assumed as much (And agree).”
Ally Pankiw in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2025Credit: Frazer Harrison/WireImage
In the caption of the post, Pankiw wrote, “It simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia! (Also this was for directing, not acting… obviously lol).”
In the comments of Pankiw’s post, fellow director Kate Herron, who helmed numerous episodes of Loki and an ep of Doctor Who, said that she had a similar experience regarding the forthcoming Potter show.
“Yeah thank you exactly!” she wrote. “Respect and love to you Ally. They’ve asked me twice and I’ve had to explain my answer is never gonna change from a no.”
Kate Herron in West Hollywood, Calif., on May 5, 2026Credit: Anna Webber/Variety via Getty
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Pankiw, Herron, Rowling, and HBO parent company Warner Bros. for comment.
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Pankiw’s post came two days after Nicholas Hoult’s casting as Gilderoy Lockhart was confirmed for the second season of the series.
Rowling has been dubbed a transphobe and a bully for her outspoken views on the transgender community. She has pushed back on those who have characterized her as transphobic, at one point tweeting, “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans.”
However, Rowling has repeatedlyidentifiedwith the TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) movement. She has made a habit of sharing anti-trans rhetoric, at one point claiming that she’d “happily do two years” in prison instead of supporting policies protecting transgender people from hate crimes. She also publicly celebrated a U.K. Supreme Court decision that ruled that womanhood is legally defined by biological sex, which was viewed by many as a blow to the trans community.
Rowling’s comments have led numerous figures involved with the original Harry Potter movie series — including franchise leads Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson — to speak out against her and state their public support for the trans community.
Earlier this week, Bel Powley, who plays the boy wizard’s aunt Petunia on the upcoming HBO series, publicly disagreed with Rowling’s comments. “I strongly disagree with J.K. Rowling’s views on gender,” she told The Telegraph. “I think that the trans community deserve safety and dignity and respect and total acceptance.”
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Paapa Essiedu, who is set to play Professor Severus Snape on the series, also shared his support of the transgender, non-binary, and intersex communities by signing an open letter calling for better protections for trans people alongside 400 entertainment industry professionals.
Harry Potter is set to debut on HBO in December.
on Entertainment Weekly
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