EXCLUSIVE: J.K. Rowling’s longtime agent Neil Blair has backed his client amid renewed focus on the author’s transgender views as buzz builds for the HBO Harry Potter series.
In a statement shared with Deadline, The Blair Partnership founding partner said he was proud to represent Rowling, adding that his agency stands by freedom of expression.
The intervention came in response to a Deadline story, which explores how Rowling’s hardening rhetoric on transgender rights comes into conflict with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at Warner Bros. Discovery and the BBC.
Rowling, who penned the Strike novels adapted by the BBC, has gone from saying she stands by transgender people’s right to live authentically and comfortably, to refusing to use preferred pronouns and describing some trans women as “crossdressers.”
Blair said: “I have had the pleasure of working with Jo Rowling for over 25 years. Throughout that time, I have watched and admired her charitable work and brave campaigning on so many issues, while at the same time becoming the extraordinary, prolific bestselling writer she is today.
“As an agency, it is our honour and responsibility to champion the rights of all our clients to express their thoughts and beliefs, and we believe in freedom of speech. As such, I am proud to represent Jo.”
Blair is the latest industry figure to declare their support for Rowling. At an event in London this month, HBO chief Casey Bloys said he was “totally comfortable” with Rowling’s involvement in the Harry Potter series.
Other industry figures have also stood by Rowling’s work. In a Deadline profile of Harry Potter showrunner Francesca Gardiner, her former mentor The X-Files writer Frank Spotnitz, said: “The Harry Potter books are deeply humanist, empathetic, enlightened work. People can disagree about other things, but I think they deserve the place they hold in our culture.”
There is little sign that Rowling’s views are impacting her sales. Pottermore Publishing, the digital audiobook and e-book publisher for Harry Potter, revealed this week that it had a record year, with revenues of £48.8M ($62M) in the 12 months to the end of March 2024.