J.K. Rowling, ‘Chocolat’ Author Joanne Harris in War of Words Over Gender Identity Issues

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Feature documentary “The Ghost of Richard Harris,” which premieres Sunday at the Venice Film Festival, looks to answer the question: “Who was Richard Harris?” The film also contains the revelation that Harris was offered the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” movies, but chose to take the part of Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” franchise instead. Variety spoke to director Adrian Sibley and Richard Harris’ son Jared Harris – a distinguished actor himself, and one of the originators of the project – about how the documentary came to be made. Sibley first broached the subject of making a film about Richard Harris some 20 years ago with the man himself, who responded: “I’ll do it, but only if I can tell the truth half the time,” Jared Harris recalls.

Jason Aldean's no longer got the backing of Nashville's powerhouse publicity firm. The GreenRoom dropped him as a client after nearly two decades. In a statement to, GreenRoom co-owner Tyne Parrish said the time has come for it to part ways with the country star despite remaining big fans of his work. «Music has always been and remains TheGreenRoom's core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason,» Parrish told.

EXCLUSIVE: Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) have been tapped to lead the psychological thriller The Wasp, which BAFTA winner and two-time nominee Guillem Morales (Inside No. 9) is directing for XYZ Films.

J.K. Rowling denied her new novel about a character being persecuted by online personas has anything to do with her "own experience" following the backlash she faced after sharing her views on gender, which were deemed transphobic by LGBTQ+ advocates and multiple stars from the "Harry Potter" franchise. In an online question and answer forum posted online for "The Ink Black Heart," which Rowling wrote under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, the author explained that the concept of the book came long before she was criticized for her views.  "I have never created a book – and this book certainly isn’t created from my own experience – you know, with a view to talking about my own life," she wrote online.

Brittany Aldean still has last week’s online altercation with Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope on her mind.

J.K. Rowling has written a new book about a character being persecuted for transphobic views.The announcement of the book comes after previous comments from the Harry Potter author, in which she mocked an article with the phrase “people who menstruate” in its headline and published a 3,000-word essay titled JK Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking Out on Sex and Gender Issues, resulted in a significant backlash from the trans community and beyond.Among those to criticise Rowling were Harry Potter stars Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

J.K. Rowling says she made the decision not to participate in the HBO Max reunion special, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which aired on New Year's Day. The 57-year-old author opened up about the decision over the weekend in an interview for with Graham Norton. «I wasn't actually [excluded],» Rowling told Norton, who assumed she had not been asked to join the special.

debuted on HBO Max, J.K. Rowling addressed her absence from the special.On January 1, stars , , , and a slew of other castmembers, directors, and crew returned to the set of the magical franchise to reminisce on the makings of the films and reveal .

The Royal Family have been told to brace themselves with Meghan Markle allegedly set to share revelations that have been described as "more damaging" than her infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey. The warning has come from leading royal author Duncan Larcombe who believes the Duchess of Sessex's new Spotify podcast should be a cause of concern for senior royals. Meghan, 41, released the first episode of her podcast, named Archetypes, on 23 August.

"Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling on Saturday discussed the dangers of social media, weeks after receiving a death threat when she tweeted support to Salman Rushdie following his stabbing attack earlier this month.  "I try to behave online as I would like others to behave," the author told British host Graham Norton on his radio show when he asked how online rhetoric could be de-escalated.

Harry Potter 20th anniversary reunion special Return To Hogwarts, and wasn’t blocked from taking part.Return To Hogwarts saw Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) reunite with other cast members to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first film in the series based on Rowling’s books, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.Upon the show’s airing in January, many critics noted the absence of Rowling, who only appears in archive video clips. There was then speculation that the writer was shut out of the programme after her previous comments about the trans community resulted in a backlash.Speaking to Graham Norton on his Virgin Radio UK show this week, Rowling revealed that she was in fact asked to take part in the show, but decided not to.She said: “I was asked to be on that and I decided I didn’t want to do it,.

Earlier this year, “Harry Potter” fans speculated that the book author of the beloved film franchise, J.K. Rowling, was snubbed from the 20-year reunion special, “Return To Hogwarts”, which premiered on January 1.

Boston Children’s Hospital recently released a statement referencing “hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence” to staff and clinicians in response to public criticism of its Gender Multispeciality Services (GeMS) Program.The August 16 statement references an article and “online attention.” Though it does not clearly name the sources of this commentary, there are a few avenues with which the online chatter took shape.Just a few days prior, a conservative site called The Post Millennial published a headline about the hospital’s trans care.

Chris, the French singer formerly known as Christine and the Queens, has spoken about his gender identity, pronouns, and the new moniker for his forthcoming album.In the three-minute video posted to TikTok last week (August 18) in French, Chris said: “I’ve been a man for a year now – a little more officially in my family and in my relationship. It is a long process.” Chris has also update his pronouns to he/him on social media.The artist’s new album, ‘Redcar les adorables étoiles’, will be released under the name Christine and the Queens presents Redcar.

Harris Dickinson has joined The Iron Claw movie!

A stunning mural of local heroes and global icons at a school in Wigan has left children inspired. Olympian Keely Hodgkinson is the latest to be added to the wall of icons at Platt Bridge Community School following her efforts in the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.