Gay HBO CEO Casey Bloys isn’t a stranger to controversy. He had previously faced backlash for greenlighting the network’s show “Confederate”, a show where the Confederate states successfully left the US and created a world where slavery and racism were commonly accepted. That show ended up being cancelled. Now as the network faces criticism for working with anti-trans writer JK Rowling on a new Harry Potter series, Bloys again seems unbothered. HBO already has one show that they produce with Rowling and BBC called “C.B. Strike”, and the new Harry Potter series continues to move forward regardless of public opinion. In an interview on the podcast ‘The Town with Matthew Belloni’, Bloys said of Rowling:
“I think it’s pretty clear those are her personal political views. She’s entitled to them. Harry Potter is not being secretly infused with anything, and she’s entitled to those views, and I think people are pretty clear that she’s entitled to them, and if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.”
Transgender advocates have protested both Rowling’s involvement, and the cast of the new show.
