Broadway star and two-time “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Jinkx Monsoon did not pass up the chance to call out “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling for her anti-trans views in her new interview with Ziwe.
When asked whether Rowling would be a good choice to play Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” a musical which Monsoon has famously starred in, the drag performer responded at first with feigned confusion: “Who is this? Who is he? Jake Hay Rowling?” Ziwe quickly corrected the LGBTQ icon, telling Monsoon, “He is a she.”
“Oh, dear. That is not a feminine name in the slightest,” Monsoon responded. “I know that, oftentimes, female authors use initials so that people assume it’s a male writer. So I have to presume that J.K. Rowling was unsatisfied with the way that the world saw her, and then she transitioned herself into a new personality, so that the world would perceive her the way she wanted to be perceived.”
Ziwe giddily sipped from her drink while Monsoon gave her sly, tongue-in-cheek criticism of Rowling. When she was done, the interviewer told Monsoon she was, “Gagging,” which prompted the “Drag Race” winner to start heartily laughing.
The clip was shared on Instagram early Thursday. Fans will be able to watch Ziwe’s full interview with Monsoon when it premieres on YouTube Thursday at 5 p.m. PST.
Monsoon, who identifies as trans-femme non-binary, has been a vocal and active proponent for transgender rights. The “Harry Potter” author has often expressed anti-trans opinions online and in the press in recent years, and has become an increasingly controversial figure as a result.
The public response to Rowling’s views has been so pronounced that HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys was forced to address her involvement in HBO’s forthcoming “Harry Potter” TV series during an April podcast appearance on “The Town with Matthew Belloni.”
“The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us. We’ve been in business for 25 years,” Bloys said at the time, before insisting that Rowling is “entitled” to her own personal views. In the same interview, the exec assured fans that HBO’s adaptation was “not secretly being infused with anything,” including Rowling’s political beliefs.
Monsoon is, notably, not the only prominent celebrity who has called out Rowling for her anti-trans stances. “Materialists” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” star Pedro Pascal expressed his disdain for the “Harry Potter” author’s views in April as well, calling her rhetoric “awful” and emblematic of “heinous LOSER behavior.”
