WNBA star Breanna Stewart addressed the backlash over her Harry Potter sneaker collaboration, which has drawn fan ire due to creator J.Ok. Rowling's anti-trans activism.
“I recognize you having this dialog with me, as a result of I need to have the ability to, like, voice to everybody what it actually means to me,” the New York Liberty ahead, 30, told The Next in a current interview. “Harry Potter is one thing that jogs my memory of my youth and the magic and the storytelling behind it … from the recollections of first going to the films with my cousin and my aunt and studying the books once I was little to getting the wand tattooed after my first Achilles surgical procedure, it's one thing that introduced me pleasure and happiness.”
Stewart, who's herself a member of the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, famous that she too feels battle over releasing Harry Potter–themed merchandise given Rowling's stance on transgender rights.
“And on the similar time, I really feel like I've to say, with loving Harry Potter and the magic behind that, I don't align with something that J.Ok. Rowling believes or her views, as a result of it's fully dangerous to many various communities,” the Olympic gold medalist defined.
Courtesy of Marta Xargay/Instagram The spouse of New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart acquired a threatening, anti-gay e mail following the group's Sport 1 loss within the WNBA Finals. Marta Xargay Casademont, who married Stewart in 2021, reported the incident to police within the aftermath of the Thursday, October 10, sport between the Liberty and Minnesota […]
Stewart's first Harry Potter collaboration dropped final yr when she launched a pair of signature Puma Stewie 3 sneakers that featured symbols from the books and movies. The footwear impressed criticism amongst followers, however neither Stewart nor Puma responded to the backlash on the time.
The brand new Harry Potter assortment contains a number of athleisure clothes gadgets in addition to Stewie 4 sneakers that reference Hedwig the owl and Nagini the snake. In her interview, Stewart mentioned she needs to discover a technique to stability her love of Harry Potter with actions that may counter the hurt Rowling's feedback have precipitated within the trans neighborhood.
“How can I've a world the place I can do each, the place I can speak about my footwear of Hedwig and [Nagini], but additionally persevering with to actively present help within the transgender neighborhood and making it so these footwear are a direct reflection of that, to counterbalance all the pieces that J.Ok. Rowling has carried out and mentioned,” she instructed The Subsequent. “As a result of there ought to be a platform the place individuals from all communities, LGBTQ+, transgender communities, may also love Harry Potter and stick up in opposition to J.Ok. Rowling and her friends.”
Sports activities phenomenon Breanna Stewart met her spouse, Marta Xargay, whereas doing the factor she loves greatest: taking part in basketball. Stewart, a New York native, was in Russia taking part in for the group Dynamo Kursk when she met Xargay, who was born in Spain. Each of them joined the squad for the 2018-19 season, however they didn't instantly […]
Stewart went on to notice that she is planning to donate the royalties from gross sales of her newest Harry Potter assortment to native organizations that help trans communities. “Supporting that neighborhood right here in Brooklyn, that's one thing that I'd need to do, as a result of I need everybody to have entry to the issues that I've entry to, and be capable of discover their magic in several methods,” she mentioned.
Followers and a few stars of Harry Potter have distanced themselves from Rowling, 59, during the last a number of years as her anti-trans views hold making headlines. In April, she publicly celebrated the U.Ok. Supreme Court docket's ruling that “womanhood” is outlined by organic intercourse, posting a photograph through X that confirmed her holding a drink and a cigar. “I find it irresistible when a plan comes collectively,” she captioned the photograph.
J.Ok. Rowling is taken into account some of the profitable authors of all time for writing the fictional Harry Potter sequence, however her real-life opinions have stirred controversy. The creator first got here underneath hearth in 2007 shortly after the sequence' last e-book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was revealed. Rowling revealed to followers at Carnegie […]
That very same month, John Lithgow, who is ready to play Albus Dumbledore within the upcoming HBO reboot, mentioned he was stunned by the backlash he confronted after taking the position. In an interview with The Instances of London, the actor, 79, mentioned he was particularly stunned when “an excellent buddy who's the mom of a trans youngster” despatched him an open letter to stroll away from the undertaking, calling it “the canary within the coal mine.”
He finally determined to proceed the undertaking, nevertheless, due to his age. “It's most likely the final main position I'll play,” he defined. “It's an eight-year dedication so I used to be simply enthusiastic about mortality and that it is a superb winding-down position.”
