Pedro Pascal defends calling JK Rowling a 'heinous loser' and says 'bullies make me f****** sick' in latest broadside at Harry Potter creator

Daily Mail​

24-06-2025

Pedro Pascal has launched a new attack on JK Rowling - defending his description of her as a 'heinous loser' as he declared how 'bullies' made him feel 'f***ing sick'.
The Game Of Thrones and Gladiator II actor has doubled down on his criticisms of the Harry Potter author over her gender-critical opinions in a new interview.
Pascal, 50, whose sister Lux recently came out as a transgender woman, initially made the scathing 'heinous loser' remark in April on Instagram.
He was responding to activist Tariq Ra'ouf who was calling for a boycott of any future Harry Potter projects due to Rowling's outspoken stance on trans issues.
The British writer, 59, had celebrated a ruling by London 's Supreme Court determining that, specifically within the terms of Britain's Equality act, 'woman' meant a biological female and not gender.
Rowling, who also writes under the pen name JK Galbraith, has also been involved in wars of words over the subject with Sir Stephen Fry, Boy George and the three young actors who played the main trio in the original Harry Potter movies.
Now Pascal has continued his opposition to Rowling in a new interview with Vanity Fair, in which he addressed the response to his Instagram comment earlier this year.
Campaigner Mr Ra'ouf had written on Instagram: 'It has become our mission as the general public to make sure that every single thing that's Harry Potter related fails...because that awful disgusting s**t, that has consequences.'
This was Pascal's Instagram post in April backing calls for a boycott of Harry Potter productions in response to JK Rowling's gender-critical opinions
As well as liking the video, Pedro also shared a defiant comment, writing: 'Awful disgusting S**T is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.'
His older sister Balmaceda, also talking to Vanity Fair for the new feature, defended him against allegations of being a man talking down to a woman - saying: But it is heinous loser behavior.
'And he said that as the older brother to someone saying that our little sister doesn't exist.'
Pascal himself has now told the magazine the backlash that followed made him feel like 'that kid that got sent to the principal's office a lot for behavioural issues in public schools in Texas feeling scared and thinking, "What'd I do?"'
But the Hollywood star's main concern was whether he might have hindered the cause he was supporting.
Pascal went on to add: 'The one thing that I would say I agonized over a little bit was just, "Am I helping? Am I f***ing helping?"
'It's a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected.
'Listen, I want to protect the people I love. But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f***ing sick.'
Pascal has previously shown his support for the transgender community, earlier this year sharing on Instagram the quote: 'A world without trans people has never existed and never will.'
He added in his caption: 'I can't think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorising the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist.'
His younger sister Lux, 32, came out as transgender and transitioned in 2021.
The actor has previously told of being fiercely protective of Lux, while also describing her as a 'powerful' personality who did not need to rely on him for support - adding: 'I need her more than she needs me.'
In a previous interview, he told Esquire magazine: 'I wouldn't want to speak on her behalf but she is and has always been one of the most powerful people and personalities I've ever known.
'My protective side is lethal, but I need her more than she needs me.'
April's ruling by the Supreme Court in London deemed the definition of a woman to be based on biological sex, meaning transgender women are not considered to be women in the eyes of the law.
The verdict means trans women with a gender recognition certificate could potentially be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'.
Multi-millionaire author Rowling, who reportedly helped fund the women's rights campaign group which brought the Supreme Court case, shared a photo online from on board her superyacht puffing a cigar in celebration.
She told her 14.3million followers on X, formerly Twitter: 'I love it when a plan comes together.'
She has since been hitting back at showbusiness critics of her stance, including actor Sir Stephen Fry, 67, who had narrated the original Harry Potter audiobooks.
He had previously branded the author a 'friend of mine', adding he did not plan to 'abandon' friendships despite his trans friends being 'deeply upset' by Rowling.
But this month he turned on her as he labelled Rowling her a 'lost cause' and accused her of being 'radicalised by TERFs', while recording podcast The Show People.
He said: 'She started to make these peculiar statements and had very strong difficult views.
'She seemed to wake up or kick a hornet's nest of transphobia which has been entirely destructive.
'I disagree profoundly with her on this subject. I am angry she does not disavow some of the more revolting and truly horrible, destructive violently destructive things that people say. She does not attack those at all
'She says things that are inflammatory and contemptuous, mocking and add to a terribly distressing time for trans people.
'She has crowed at the success of legislation in Scotland and elsewhere declaring things about gender.
'So I am very happy to go on the record to say that I am really angry about that. My view about all things of sharp and difficult nature is that is is much more important to be effective than to be right.'
Sir Stephen, who had until recently not spoken openly about the row, explained that he had previously got on well with the author.
He added: 'I am sorry because I always liked her company. I found her charming, funny and interesting and then this thing happened and it completely altered the way she talks and engages with the world now.'
Rowling herself has since hit back, suggesting the pair were never friends.
British barrister Jo Maugham had posted online welcoming Sir Stephen's comments, saying: 'Really creditable this, from Stephen Fry. I've spoken to so many of JKR's once friends who now despair at her privately but won't do so publicly, which is very much the British way and why nothing ever changes for the better. So well done Stephen.'
Rowling then shared his remarks on X, while adding her own riposte: 'It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to have been a friend of mine was ever considered a friend by me.'
British barrister Jo Maugham echoed Stephen Fry's suggestions that he and JK Rowling were friends on social media - a claim the author then denied
She has also engaged in a furious online war of words with popstar Boy George after he accused her of hating men following the Supreme Court's ruling.
Responding to a tweet suggesting that actor Pascal was a misogynist, the singer wrote: 'Stop this nonsense that if you don't agree with @jk_rowling you hate women. She hates men. This is where this truth lies.
'She cannot differentiate between a 'trans' woman and a biological male. Which is weird with her imagination?'
But Rowling fired back with an eye-rolling emoji and the retort: 'I do not hate men. I'm married to a man, George. I do not hate men.
'I simply live in reality where men - however they identify - commit 98 per cent of sexual assaults, and 88 per cent of victims are female.
'Trans-identified men are no less likely than other kinds of men to pose a risk to women or girls.'
What does the Supreme Court gender ruling mean?
What did the Supreme Court rule?
The Supreme Court ruled the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
What does it mean for single sex spaces?
The court's decision will have huge consequences for how single-sex spaces and services operate across the UK, experts said today.
The written Supreme Court judgment gives examples including rape or domestic violence counselling, refuges, rape crisis centres, female-only hospital wards and changing rooms.
The court ruled that trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'.
The government said the ruling 'brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs'.
What does it mean for employers?
Employment experts say it will provide companies with greater 'clarity' over single sex spaces for their staff.
Lara Brown, senior Research Fellow in the Culture and Identity Unit at Policy Exchange, said a trans woman with a GRC who is excluded from single-sex spaces cannot say she is being discriminated against as a woman.
She explained: 'This ruling makes it legal for any space that wants to be single sex to exclude biological men.'
Could employers still be at risk of discrimination?
The Supreme Court made it clear that trans people are protected under the gender reassignment provisions in the Equality Act and will be able to bring claims if they are discriminated or harassed.
Experts say a trans woman will be able to bring a sex discrimination claim if they are disadvantaged because they are perceived to be a woman or because they associate with a woman.
Rob McKellar, legal services director at Peninsula, said failure to be an inclusive workplace, regardless of any protected characteristics, could result in a discrimination claim.
What does the ruling mean for competitive sports?
In recent years, many sports have cracked down on rules around transgender athletes at the elite level.
Athletics, cycling and aquatics are among those who have banned trans women from taking part in women's events.
The UK government said it hopes the decision will provide clarity for sports clubs.
Although today's ruling did not concern sport directly, former Olympian Sharron Davies welcomed the decision, saying it was important to 'define what a woman is'.
Could a pregnant woman with a GRC be entitled to maternity leave?
Experts said today that the ruling that only women can become pregnant shows a trans man (biological woman) would be able to take maternity leave, while a trans woman (biological man) would not.
Jo Moseley, an employment law specialist at national law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: 'The Supreme Court acknowledged that only women can become pregnant. Therefore a trans man (a biological woman who identifies as a man) can take maternity leave.
'Had the court reached a different decision, it's possible that trans men with a GRC wouldn't have been entitled to protection in relation to pregnancy under the characteristics of 'pregnancy or maternity'.'