Pedro Pascal Speaks Out on His Past Comments About J.K. Rowling: ‘Bullies Make Me F**king Sick’

Pedro Pascal is standing by his recent comments criticizing J.K. Rowling‘s transphobic views.

Back in April, Pacal hopped into the comments of an Instagram post slamming Rowling for praising the U.K. Supreme Court for ruling that womanhood is legally defined by a person’s biological sex. “Don’t watch the [new Harry Potter] show. Don’t go to Universal. Don’t buy a single Harry Potter thing ever,” Instagram user Tariq Ra’ouf captioned their April 17 post. “It’s time to tell these corporations that transphobia loses money.”

In the post’s comments, Pascal wrote, “Awful disgusting S*** is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.”

Pascal reflected on his comment going viral in a Vanity Fair profile published on Tuesday, June 24, stating that he briefly felt like “that kid that got sent to the principal’s office a lot for behavioral issues in public schools in Texas feeling scared and thinking, ‘What’d I do?'”

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He continued, “The one thing that I would say I agonized over a little bit was just, ‘Am I helping? Am I f**king helping?’ It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected.”

At the end of the day, Pascal says he wants to “protect the people I love.” He added, “But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f**king sick.”

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Pedro is known for being an advocate of the LGBTQIA+ community over the years, as his younger sister, Lux Pascal, is a trans model and actress. His older sister, Javiera Balmaceda, defended his comments in the Vanity Fair profile, stating, “He said that as the older brother to someone saying that our little sister doesn’t exist.”

Rowling has come under fire in recent years for her anti-transgender comments. Her involvement as an executive producer on HBO’s Harry Potter TV adaptation has prompted some fans to boycott the upcoming series.

“Dreadful news, which I feel duty bound to share. Activists in my mentions are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show,” she wrote via X in April 2023, shortly after the show’s announcement. “As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne.

Pascal isn’t the only celebrity to publicly criticize Rowling and the Harry Potter series. “Keep your new Harry Potter, lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole,” Bridgerton‘s Nicola Coughlan wrote via her Instagram Story in April.

Rowling recently gave fans an update on the series, which is expected to premiere late next year or early 2027. “I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!” she wrote via X on Saturday, June 21.

Replying to a tweet asking if she is writing for the show, Rowling clarified, “No, but I’ve worked closely with the extremely talented writers.”

The Harry Potter TV series will star newcomers Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, respectively. Other cast members include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

If you or a loved one in the LGBTQ+ community need support, please contact The LGBT National Hotline at (888) 843-4564.

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