Tom Felton was asked about JK Rowling and immediately showed his privilege

It must be great to be Tom Felton.

He’s lived a fairly quiet life since the Harry Potter films wrapped up when he was 21 and he’s already made his fortune.

Even better, as a straight, white, male millionaire, he heaps of privilege – which means a lot of the world’s troubles are unlikely to directly impact him.

Last week, it was announced he would be returning to the Harry Potter franchise. While its lead actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have gone on to launch successful careers worlds away from Hogwarts, Felton will be reprising his role as Draco Malfoy in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.

Of course, even if Radcliffe and Watson wanted to return to the world of Harry Potter, JK Rowling has clearly implied she will not forgive them for standing up for trans people – a tiny minority of men and women who just want to exist with the same rights as everyone else yet find their lives being made harder and harder every day due to voices like Rowling’s.

Felton was at the Tony Awards on Saturday night, his first red carpet since it was confirmed his career has come full circle as he reprises the role that made him a household name almost 24 years ago.

Whether you’re a Potter fan or have any strong feelings about the trans community or not, Rowling’s gender-critical campaigning has been inescapable. Or at least, it appeared to be – unless you’re lucky enough to be Felton, who, it seems, is able to turn a blind eye.

When asked directly whether the controversy around JK Rowling’s divisive position on the trans community had impacted his work with the franchise, Felton responded, ‘I can’t say it does, I’m not really that attuned to it.’

He added: ‘I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter. She’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.’

He’s right – very few moments or phenomena have brought the world together quite like Harry Potter did and that would have been such a wonderful legacy for Rowling to have until she caused so much division.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and proud ally to trans people, I find Rowling’s stance towards the trans community deeply hurtful – as well as dangerous.

While she insists that she is not transphobic, in my view, trans lives have never felt more under threat and having such powerful voices like Rowling’s constantly berating them does incalculable harm.

I do accept that perhaps I have stronger feelings than others. I am a gay man whose freedom has only been realised because of the many oppressed gay people who came before me, who in the not-so distant past were demonised, ostracised. Still, there are those just like me around the world who are beaten and killed for being who they are today.

I have no doubt that Felton is more ‘attuned’ than he’s letting on, but still… The privilege to be able to dismiss matters that don’t impact him, to turn a blind eye to an ongoing issue that is dominating the lives of a community, is something I will never understand or respect.

I am not without my many privileges myself – I’m white, male, and middle class – but I wouldn’t dream of not being ‘attuned’ to feminism, racism or poverty.

Daniel Radcliffe described his broken relationship with Rowling as ‘really sad’ but affirmed that just because she wrote the story that made him a star, ‘[it] doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life’.

He’s been involved with The Trevor Project, a non-profit, US organisation devoted to supporting LGBTQ+ people, since his early twenties. He could have, like Felton, taken his millions, worked intermittently and lived a comfortable life.

But what world would we live in if there were no Daniel Radcliffes? If all of us were entirely self-serving, it would be a place without community, care or wonder.

Whatever your stance on Rowling’s trans beliefs, I honestly can’t think of a more disappointing response to a question about the controversy she’s caused online than Felton’s. 

I appreciate that picking a side on any issue, particularly in this gruesome age of social media, is more intimidating than it’s ever been. But to see a celebrity appear to simply dismiss an important matter out of hand is deeply unsettling, particularly from a man who is still riding on the coattails of a book that meant so much to LGBTQ+ people who felt closeted, and that championed chosen family – even if its author is arguably working against many of them now.

I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Radcliffe, Watson or Grint’s work but I am a fan of integrity. To say you’re not ‘attuned’ to one of the biggest discussions around human rights for years, is a sign you have none.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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