Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson Skewers J.K. Rowling Over Transphobic Comments

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has been under fire over the past few months for her transphobic tweets, and Saturday Night Live‘s Pete Davidson addressed the backlash during the newest edition of Weekend Update. Earlier this Summer, Rowling made a series of comments that angered the trans community as the author continued to double down on the comments she made. This was eventually weighed in on by the cast of the Harry Potter films, those involved behind-the-scenes of the films, and more in the following weeks.

Pete Davidson addressed the issue during the newest edition of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live, and wondered how someone who had created such a magical world full of creatures that don’t exist in the real world could not “wrap her head around” a trans actress and activist like Laverne Cox.

Going further, Davidson then reflected on some of the poor representation seen in the Harry Potter world itself. Noting that the banks in this magical universe are overseen by trolls, Davidson asserts that this is a racist and stereotypical view of Jewish people and is only one of the examples found in Rowling’s work. But it’s also an assertion reflected by even fans of the franchise.

Following Rowling’s comments earlier this Summer, Warner Bros. released the following statement, “The events in the last several weeks have firmed our resolve as a company to confront difficult societal issues. Warner Bros.’ position on inclusiveness is well established, and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture has never been more important to our company and to our audiences around the world.

Continuing the statement further, “We deeply value the work of our storytellers who give so much of themselves in sharing their creations with us all. We recognize our responsibility to foster empathy and advocate understanding of all communities and all people, particularly those we work with and those we reach through our content.”

Not only has Warner Bros. distanced themselves from the author, but fans have done so as well. Many have gone as far as to regret their Harry Potter love over the years, and even the upcoming video game set in the Harry Potter universe had to distance itself from the author due to these comments. So while Pete Davidson indeed skewer J.K. Rowling, it’s only one string of comments in a long series of others taking the author to task.