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John Lithgow says much of JK Rowling’s trans remarks have been ‘twisted and misrepresented’
Actor John Lithgow said much of J.K. Rowling’s views on transgender issues have been “twisted and misrepresented,” despite his own disagreements with “much” of what the author has said.
“I do disagree with much of [what she has said],” Lithgow told journalist David Remnick late last month.
“Much of it, I think, has been twisted and misrepresented, and she has sort of doubled down on it at her own cause.”
Lithgow, 80, who is set to portray Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming “Harry Potter” HBO television series, said he was aware of the controversy surrounding Rowling before signing on, and even faced pressure to walk away from the project.
“I was urged to walk away, and I was not about to do that,” he said, explaining that he felt “the reasons to do it were much, much stronger” than objections to Rowling’s comments.
After Lithgow explained his decision, Remnick pressed further on Rowling’s rhetoric, noting how “surprised” he has been by the “ferocity” and, at times, “cruelty” in the tone of her public comments.
JK ROWLING SLAMS GLAMOUR UK’S WOMEN OF THE YEAR COVER FEATURING NINE TRANS WOMEN
Lithgow responded, “Yes, I’m surprised by it, too, and disappointed by it.”
Rowling, who authored all seven books in the “Harry Potter” series, has angered transgender activists for years with her outspoken opposition to transgender ideology and her defense of women-only spaces.
ACTOR JOHN LITHGOW DEFENDS JOINING ‘HARRY POTTER’ SERIES DESPITE JK ROWLING’S TRANS BACKLASH
She has taken to social media multiple times to weigh in on issues relevant to the subject, including transgender athletes in women’s sport, biological men entering female-only spaces and the legal definition of a woman while providing support for other women who have opposed transgender ideology.
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Lithgow previously said he had considered walking away from his role due to Rowling’s views, according to The New York Times, which cited his “interest in queer culture” while delving into the topic.
Lithgow noted that non-binary actor Aud Mason-Hyde, his co-star in a separate project, called his decision to join the Potter show “disconcerting” and “vaguely hurtful” and, because of the pushback, he “considered quitting the series but decided not to” and pushed forward, well aware of possible ramifications.
“Every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life this will come up,” he told the outlet.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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Charlize Theron stuns in yellow bikini during Hawaiian beach vacation with her two daughters
Charlize Theron is enjoying a tropical Hawaiian vacation with her daughters.
The 50-year-old, Academy Award-winning actress was photographed walking along the shore while on spring break with her daughters, Jackson and August, on Saturday, March 28.
In the photos, Theron could be seen walking on the white sand beach in a strapless yellow bikini, which she paired with black sunglasses.
During an interview with AnOther in February, Theron spoke about aging, acknowledging that “I’m not going to be able to stop this process.”
‘LANDMAN’ STAR ALI LARTER EXCITED TO TURN 50, REVEALS ‘DISCIPLINED’ FITNESS AND WELLNESS ROUTINE
“I’m not scared of aging,” she added. “I just want mobility for as long as I can possibly have it. I want to be able to feel strong for as long as I possibly can. My mom is 74 and she hikes every morning. The other day she lifted a 78-pound dog into the back of her car like it was nothing. I’m like, OK, I really lucked out with genetics.”
She then joked that knowing that her mom has had two knee replacements makes her feel better, saying, “I have a surgery after every movie but that’s just making me stronger. I’m going to be bionic by the end of it.”
Theron adopted her older daughter, Jackson, 12, in 2012 and later adopted August, 9, in 2015, as a single mother. During an interview with Alex Cooper on “Call Her Daddy” in July 2025, the actress opened up about her choice to become a single mother, calling it “one of the healthiest decisions I ever made.”
“With women, it’s always like, something must be wrong with her. She can’t keep a man, and it’s never part of the discussion of like, ‘Wow. She’s really living her truth,’ ” she said. “I look at them and just be like, ‘Do you know how f—ing great it is to live exactly how I want to live, to experience motherhood exactly how I wanted to experience it?'”
BEVERLY D’ANGELO PRIORITIZED FAMILY VALUES OVER HOLLYWOOD FAME AFTER WELCOMING TWINS AT 49
She went on to say that she “love[s] that I don’t have to run every f—— thing by a guy” or deal with a co-parent, adding that she “broke the cycle.”
Theron has spoken in the past about the dynamic between her mother and father. When speaking with NPR in December 2019, she detailed the day her mother shot and killed her father when she was 15 years old, after he came home drunk and shot three bullets through the door she and her mom were hiding behind, saying, in self-defense, “she ended the threat.”
Earlier this year, Theron spoke about the relationship between her mom and dad when speaking with AnOther, and explained how seeing her mother navigate that influenced her acting style.
“My mom had a complex relationship with my father, and I think it really informed me,” she said. “Obviously, when I was younger, I had no concept of how complicated people and relationships are. And of course I wish that she had a wonderful marriage and didn’t have to experience all of that. But I do think that in many ways it made me as an actor be more honest in portraying women.”
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The “Monster” star grew up in South Africa, reportedly leaving in the early 1990s when she was 16 years old, after winning a modeling contest.
When speaking to the outlet, she credited her mom for exposing her to “the concept of art,” detailing how she would take her to the drive-in, the ballet and the opera, as well as the video store, adding, “Her exposing me to storytelling at a very young age ignited this love for it.”
At the time she didn’t know that a career in the arts was possible, but found success in the industry after moving to Los Angeles in the early ’90s, following a brief modeling career. After years in the industry, Theron says things have changed saying “you just would never get away with” experiences she had with directors or during auditions.
“I think that’s the most frustrating thing about it for women,” she said. “It’s four steps forward and 20 steps back, but we’ve come a long way since I started, for sure. You had to squeeze your way in. And really the only way to get in there was to be the trophy, sexy person. The alternative for me was to go back to South Africa and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
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She continued: “My parents had a road-construction company. Was I really going to do that? I was so driven by wanting to do something in the arts. For me, there was a real focus on how can I go about this so I have longevity?”
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Amy Bradley cruise ship mystery reignited by ‘big’ revelations in disappearance: report
Authorities have reportedly uncovered a series of new leads stemming from the disappearance of an American college graduate who vanished while on a tropical vacation with her family 28 years ago.
The circumstances surrounding Amy Bradley’s 1998 disappearance – and the subsequent investigation – have since been revisited in a three-part Netflix documentary series, titled “Amy Bradley is Missing.”
Nearly one year after the documentary’s release, director Ari Mark has reportedly revealed a few new breaks in the investigation into Bradley’s whereabouts.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Mark revealed “two people of interest who have trafficking ties” have been questioned by the FBI relating to Bradley’s disappearance.
FORMER FBI AGENT ROBERT LEVINSON’S DISAPPEARANCE STILL UNSOLVED AS BUREAU PRESSES FOR NEW TIPS
While Mark did not say when the interviews took place, he added that it is a “pretty new” development and he believes it is “a big deal” in the case.
While working alongside the FBI and the Bradley family’s private investigator, Mark said they “may have identified that the trafficking ring… exists, and who potentially would be responsible,” and that the ring is a “dominant” group in the Caribbean, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Bradley was just 23 years old when her family embarked on a seven-day Royal Caribbean international cruise in 1998.
The trip was meant to be a celebration of Bradley’s graduation from college and her upcoming pursuit of a master’s degree in sports psychology.
However, as the ship was heading to Curaçao on March 24, 1998, Bradley’s family realized she had vanished from their cabin – ultimately launching a years-long search that has yet to come to a conclusion.
“The trafficking scenario here has been a persistent one,” Peter Valentin, chair of the Forensic Science Department at the University of New Haven and a former Connecticut State Police detective, told Fox News Digital.
“And that can be valuable investigatively. So that might give you some indication of if Bradley left the cruise ship, where did she go after she left? And where could she be geographically? If you have limited investigative resources, where should they be deployed?”
Additionally, Mark told the Hollywood Reporter the investigation has led them to another source claiming Bradley gave birth to a child after her disappearance.
The possible revelation comes after a single source floated the lead to Mark in October 2025, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
PARENTS BELIEVE DAUGHTER WHO VANISHED FROM CRUISE SHIP 27 YEARS AGO IS STILL ALIVE
If the sources are correct, it could mark a pivotal breakthrough in the race to locate Bradley, according to Valentin.
“It shifts the case,” Valentin said. “First of all, it tells you – depending on where the DNA is recovered – that a reasonable assumption is that she’s alive. Secondly, where the DNA is recovered gives you a lot of investigative information for you to then follow up on.”
“Once you get that connection, now you have a whole new vantage point on what the rest of the case is about,” Valentin added.
Mark also pointed to yet another potential new break in the case, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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A 2023 IP hit to the “Amy Bradley is Missing” website was reportedly recorded from a public computer inside a casino in the Caribbean, leading the Bradley family’s private investigator to have a “follow-up conversation” with the business’ general manager.
The manager reportedly “was able to confirm that he recognized Amy,” and told the investigator “that she had been in that casino, and potentially using that public computer,” Mark told the Hollywood Reporter.
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However, upon reaching out to the manager to record a follow-up conversation, “he completely clammed up,” Mark added.
The flag is notable to Valentin, who pointed to several unanswered questions that stem from the development.
“It could have actually been a viable lead, and that’s why the casino owner or operator decided to stop cooperating,” Valentin said.
“What I’d be more interested in knowing is how many times was the website accessed from that IP address at the casino? Because certainly there must have been more IP addresses from that vicinity accessing the website,” Valentin continued. “There must’ve been a bit more to this that made it stick out, that made it significant enough.”
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On the night before she vanished, Bradley went with her brother, Brad Bradley, to the Rhapsody of the Seas nightclub, where they stayed into the early hours of March 24. Her father, Ron, later said the last time he saw her, she was asleep on the cabin balcony.
In a text message conversation to the Hollywood Reporter, Brad Bradley said the family knows “of no evidence that has been presented that Amy has or had a child,” adding, “although, of course it is possible.”
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“There are things and people we are working with that we can’t disclose publicly,” Brad Bradley said in a text message, according to the outlet. “The entire case comes down to someone coming forward and telling us what they know. Somebody knows something!”
Fox News Digital reached out to Brad Bradley.
The FBI recently released an updated missing persons flyer featuring images of what Bradley may look like at her current age, along with announcing a $25,000 reward for “information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her death.”
“The FBI continues to investigate Amy’s disappearance; we have recently raised the reward from $25,000 to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of Amy Lynn Bradley and information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance,” the bureau said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Although countless theories surrounding what truly happened to Bradley have continued to swirl for decades after her disappearance, Valentin emphasized the importance of investigators looking at each potential lead with a set of fresh eyes.
“When you’re looking at a cold case like this, you can’t look at it by just reading the investigative reports,” Valentin told Fox News Digital. “Because if you do, you’ll wind up exactly where everybody else did. So you actually have to question the outcomes.”
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From Hollywood headlines to Heartland buzz: Are you on the pulse?
The Pop Culture Quiz is your weekly test of what’s making headlines and breaking the internet from the Heartland to Hollywood.
This week’s quiz highlights celebrity scandals and eye-catching bikini moments.
Can you get all 5 questions right?
For more Entertainment articles, visit www.foxnews.com/entertainment
To try your hand at more quizzes from Fox News Digital, click here.
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