Keira Knightley had no idea that people were boycotting all things JK Rowling. Believe it or not, I think Keira is very offline, so it makes some sense. [Socialite Life]
Donald Trump thinks Watergate was a hoax. [Buzzfeed]
I don’t know how much to cover about Jeremy Allen White and Deliver Me From Nowhere. I’m pretty sure JAR will get an Oscar nomination for it though. [LaineyGossip]
Natalie Portman wore a funky Dior. [RCFA]
The government shutdown is threatening domestic violence survivors. [Jezebel]
Review of AppleTV+’s The Last Frontier. [Pajiba]
Keanu Reeves pays tribute to Diane Keaton. [JustJared]
All about Taylor Swift’s new docuseries. [Hollywood Life]
Robbie Williams loves Pretty Woman. [Seriously OMG]
The trailer for Heated Rivalry. [OMG Blog]
I don’t think you have to be extremely online to know about JK Rowling. If you’re in the movie industry, her transphobia is widely known.
“You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect,”
That’s the kind of cop-out answer you’d hear from a politician. And no. personally I don’t respect people who think an entire group of already-marginalized people don’t have the right to exist. That’s not an “opinion”, that’s bigotry and intolerance and there’s no place in my life for that shit.
Exactly!
“You know, I think we’re all living in a period of time right now where we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. I hope that we can all find respect,”
Well Ms. Knightley, Rowling’s opinion is that people who don’t fit her incredibly narrow and specific definition of “woman” shouldn’t be allowed to exist, or “live together,” in Rowling’s world, so…she’s the one who needs to figure out how to live with others. The rest of the world doesn’t need to figure out how to oppress themselves so oppressors can keep their ignorant, bigoted opinions.
So take this “live together…find respect” platitude crap to her, and tell Rowling she needs to learn to live with people who have other definitions of “woman” than she does.
If you can, watch the video of Knightley saying this. The video of her response, replete with body language and unpleasant laughter, is worse than the print quote — which was already bad enough. She comes off as pissed, defensive, and extremely discounting of the issue. It feels like an arrogant little lecture from her on how we should all just accept anti-trans bigotry.
Apparently KK has never come across “the paradox of tolerance”
If a society generally adopts a mindset of tolerance, including tolerance of those who are intolerant, it winds up dominated by those who are intolerant.
It’s not some super secret concept – heck it was something I was aware of as a teen – I had a mini poster in my bedroom with Linus from Peanuts that said “I have no tolerance for intolerance”.
A functioning humane society should not make space and comfort for intolerant bigots.
Keira Knightly can, and should, do better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
This. Everything about her answer screams “I don’t care.” And this whole ‘live together and find respect’ is such bullsh*t. Do you really think that if you show Rowling grace, she will reciprocate? No, she’ll laugh in your face and mock you just like she did to Emma Watson. Bigots do not give a f*ck about finding common ground with people who disagree with them. Hate is where they thrive and they do not deserve anyone’s grace or understanding.
I’m not surprised; I don’t know anyone in real life who isn’t either chronically online or a celeb gossip hound who knows about JK Rowling. I think people forget that most people aren’t on Twitter and most people aren’t checking for authors of children’s books like that.
I have the exact opposite experience. My grown nieces who are too busy with their small kids to be online know the deal about JKR and what a monster she is.
And these children’s books were in a class of their own.
Your grown nieces may be online more than you think, honestly. My online usage kicked up considerably after having kids.
I do agree with NikkiK, I think its easy to think that everyone knows what is common knowledge in the social media or online world. I have a lot of friends who could not tell you why JK Rowling is problematic, or they could tell you vaguely but without specifics (“isn’t she against trans people…..?”) they don’t know how awful she has become in her reactions to the original three stars, or how she donates her money, etc.
That said…..someone on Keira’s team should have known and should have prepped her for this question.
But she’s far from the only celeb participating in new HP projects.
I find this explanation infuriating. Keira might well be extremely offline and unaware of Rowling’s toxicity, but her team wouldn’t be — other actors have already had to answer questions about working on HP projects.
She is also based in UK, where Rowling has been publicly funding laws against Trans people and also feuding with all manner of celebrities. It’s one thing to be offline and quite another thing to be willfully ignorant about signing on to a project that is going to feature your name. It’s the “I didn’t see the president’s tweet” of Republican lawmakers.
Finally, okay – let’s believe Keira that she didn’t know. She does now. What is she going to do about it?
That part. Charitably assuming (cough) that she was the only person in the film industry unaware that JKR is the world’s leading transphobe, and that the stars of the original film aren’t on this project because of it
She knows now. Is she saying “omg, I had no idea, I’m pulling out of this project right now”? Is she saying “I’ve consulted a trans rights org and will donate all my income from this project?”
Is she even doing the bare minimum and saying “Of course I think trans people are who they say they are”? She’s not. She’s asking us decent people to be polite to her about the fact that she thinks trans people shouldn’t exist. Ew. No longer a fan of KK.
Even if she didn’t know, which, frankly, is BS, because every actress at her level pays people to know, she knows now. And her reply is very clear that she intends to do precisely nothing different now that she knows. So basically: Keira shrugs.
Bye, Keira.
Even if she’s offline, she has an agent, manager, assistant and what not. Ofcourse she knew. Judging from the clip she doesn’t care.
This was exactly my reaction. Mayyyyybe she didn’t know (I still call bs) but she definitely has an agent, manger or lawyer who does.
Wow. I have loved Keira Knightley since her Bend It Like Beckham days, but…as with everyone else attached to these new Harry Potter projects, she just lost all my respect and esteem.
Way too many of the actors taking these new roles (looking at you too, John Lithgow) are claiming they had no idea of Rowling’s anti-trans activism, but I find that hard to believe.
For one, Rowling has been actively lobbying to oppress transgender folx for many years (even publishing an anti-trans novel!), so it’s hard to believe anyone in this business has missed that news.
But second, even if, say, Keira Knightley (or others) somehow really missed the abundance of information about it (OK, maybe she really is extremely offline, etc.) these are actors with agents, managers, PR people.
And it is the job of those agents/managers/PR people to be online, and to know this kind of stuff. So unless they are absolutely terrible at their jobs, at some point before contacts were signed, they must have said, “Hey, are you aware of the controversy associated with this? Do you still want to get involved?”
And those actors said yes.
I just can’t believe they were not given a heads up by the professionals they pay to make sure they don’t sign up for projects that will ensure people want to boycott them too.
So yeah, I think they all did their own moral calculus and for whatever reason decided supporting someone who goes out of her way to oppress some of the most marginalized people in society (and helping this billionaire tyrant make gobs more money) was still the right choice for them.
And playing dumb about it makes it even worse.
i was so disappointed by this interview. i’m not a huge fan of hers really, but it’s just another actor in a long list of people who just don’t care about things that don’t affect them directly. john lithgow’s answer to the same questions were equally disappointing and upsetting. and kiera’s costar-simon something? i’m sorry, i don’t remember. his answer were equally tone deaf and stupid. something about it’s ok to live through chaos to come out the other side. and i’m like, this isn’t arguing about mundane issues. this is completely dehumanizing a whole group of people who are already having such a horrible time and are under constant attack. it’s just…i don’t know. the number of people who just don’t give a f*** is so upsetting to me. especially since these are people with money and a following who could affect real change if they choose. they just don’t want to and don’t care.
Wait, Rowling wrote an anti-trans novel?! How obsessed is this woman? I know about her opinions and activism but I didn’t know she actually extended it to her works of fictions. That seems bonkers.
Yes, in 2020 under her pseudonym (Robert Galbraith) and since I just looked it up to verify, I learned the next book she wrote in that series ALSO has anti-trans themes!
The 2020 one apparently features a man who wears dresses committing crimes against women, so while of course we should all realize that men-who-dress-as-women-to-make-harming-them-easier are not, in fact, transwomen (but rather cismen cosplaying in service of their crimes), JKR and MAGAs and the like all seem to think that’s what being trans is all about, so the novel is really just more of her anti-trans propaganda BS.
This woman has a serious and unhealthy (and obviously hateful and harmful) obsession.
Speaking of losing respect for actors, can we please talk about Cary Joji Fukunaga (groomer and sexual harasser) directing the upcoming Blood on Snow with actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Eva Green, Emma Laird, Ben Mendelsohn, and Pilou Asbæk? He’s yet another David O. Russell, allowed to thrive in Hollywood, despite being a known abuser.
Well given Eva Green’s past defense of Johnny Depp, I doubt she cares if he’s an abuser.
Yes to all the other comments about Keira and can we also talk about all the other names who are involved in this project? Her response was dreadful and we also need to start calling out the rest of the cast and getting their answers on why they’re involved with effectively supporting transphobia too.
Fair.
Some very high-profile names on the list, including Hugh Laurie, Matthew Macfadyen, Riz Ahmed, James McAvoy, Kit Harington, and Ruth Wilson. Disappointed by Matthew and James in particular.
Not my baby James
Yep – they’ve all lost my respect. It’s a tough list to swallow, given how many great actors are on there, but they all need to be called out.
Sadly, I assume this will be like actors continuing to work with (and audiences continuing to view the movies of) Woody Allen for decades after his horrible grooming, abusing behaviors were made public…
But hopefully we will hit a tipping point soon. I think/hope the target audience for these new audiobooks & the TV series are more aware of how horrible JKR is…so hopefully they will flop and that will be the warning to actors in the future (too bad “supporting anti-trans activists” was not enough to prevent them in the first place).
Okay fine. She says she didn’t know and that no one on her team knew. Sure. Maybe she’s already locked into the contract. Again, okay, fine. But nothing is stopping her from donating the entirety, not a portion, but the entirety, of the money she makes from this recording to a charity supporting trans rights. Just saying. Anything less would suggest that it’s just not that big of a deal to her.
Does Keira never read a paper? Does she not have a “team”? That is the most bullshit excuse ever…how could one not know when one is in the business. Or her husband who is also a public figure. Im so upset by her and the others who did this project and the new series. Just say you don’t give a shit…make it clear. That you want the money.
So, after Fergie’s Epstein email was revealed, Natalie Dormer donated the salary she received from playing Fergie to a human trafficking charity. I want to hear about that from these people or they’re cancelled.
It’s more than just tolerating other people’s views. Kiera is actively choosing to help put money in JK’s pocket that will be used to fund anti-trans causes. That is reprehensible. Lots of ways to express tolerance for different beliefs, this ain’t one of them.
Lies. Clearly lies.
Even if Keira somehow managed not to know, her agent absolutely knew.
Trans people’s lives are endangered by Rowling’s hateful speech. It’s not mere a matter of respect. It’s a matter of life and death.
Keira can f*ck off.
I haven’t seen all the Harry Potter movies. Was Keira Knightley in any of them? If she wasn’t, I think it is the type of question that is strange to ask her. I can believe she probably didn’t know if she’s not actually in the movies. And I don’t think her PR would expect her to be asked about this if she has no connection to Rowling.
If she’s currently in a project connected to Rowling, then never mind what I said.
I read more about the story. My comment can be disregarded.
I’ve never cared for Keira Knightly. Her expression typically lacks real warmth and she looks smug, self-entitled. But I kept my opinion to myself because it sounded so daft, “I just don’t like her face”. Now comes Ms. Knightly from wherever she’s been quietly living, weakly defending herself for obviously valuing a paycheck over moral integrity as she tries to both-sides vile, anti-trans, hate speech. I look at her standing there in her fugly gold dress looking all self-satisfied and I’m thinking huh, seems like you can read a book by it’s cover.
> valuing a paycheck over moral integrity
And that is the best-case interpretation of her choices around this! It can’t be ruled out that she’s as hate-filled an anti-trans bigot as JKR is, but seeing what a lightning rod JKR had made of herself, KK decided to keep her trap shut about it. But now? Working on this project is taking a side. The wrong side.
Thanks to everyone here for their support of transgendered individuals. My family appreciates your support. Closed minded people are such a drag.
If our support isn’t loud then we leave the airspace to the terrible people like Rowling.
Which reminds me, I got a great t-shirt that says ‘its sisterhood not cisterhood’ that I just had to donate as it no longer fits and I really need to order a replacement.
Finding out that K.K. (who WAS an absolute fave) is lying 🗑 = 😱
Actually the LYING is what pisses me off…because AIN’T NO WAY that a Woman in her position & background didn’t KNOW that J.K. is PSYCHOTIC in her hate for trans people under the PUTRID guise of “protecting Women” 😠
Seeing folks dragging K.K. for appropriate FILTH = 😜
One of the blowbacks of a Trump Installation 😡 is that I take a DEFINITIVE hardline on NOT enabling or enriching inhumane folks & those who support them…I don’t care WHO it is😐
KK had absolutely no idea there would be blowback. There, I fixed it for her.
So we’re to believe she never wondered for a moment why the stars of the original films aren’t available for this adaptation? She doesn’t wonder why this job is even open?