Aidan Monaghan/HBO

HBO's series adaptation of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books has been shooting for over a year and is currently scheduled to premiere its first season on Christmas Day 2026. But since the project was announced, it's been mired in controversy due to Rowling's anti-transgender activism. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)'s website even hosts a page listing Rowling's anti-trans statements and financial support of anti-trans legislation. For example, she donated almost $100,000 to For Women Scotland, the group that successfully sued the Scottish National Parliament to legally define a woman as someone who is assigned female at birth.

That Rowling would use the fortune accumulated from a franchise that has delighted people of all races, ethnicities, and genders to target a deeply vulnerable segment of the population has, for many, robbed the "Harry Potter" books, movies, and other Wizarding World projects of their magic. We try to separate the art from the artist, but when the artist is alive and actively doing harm to your friends (and gloating about it, no less), it's hard to maintain that distance.

This was the case for two prominent television directors who were approached to helm episodes of HBO's "Harry Potter" series. Ally Pankiw (a "Black Mirror" director and writer on "Schitt's Creek") recently shared her emphatic rejection of the show on Instagram. Likewise, director Kate Herron ("Loki," "Sex Education") replied to Pankiw's post, stating that she, too, had turned down an offer. Both of them found working within Rowling's universe a toxic notion.

Aidan Monaghan/HBO

Ally Pankiw's Instagram post shows a screencap of a text exchange she had with one of her reps at WME. The agent asks "I have an instinct on the answer, but I feel compelled to ask. 'Harry Potter'? Hard No?" Pankiw's response: "Absolutely f***ing not! lol. (But thanks for asking.)" To which the agent replied, "Of course :). I assumed as much. And agree."

Kate Herron later commented, "Yeah, thank you, exactly! Respect and love to you Ally. They've asked me twice, and I've had to explain my answer is never gonna change from a no."

Pankiw also added, "It simply is this easy to say no to funding transphobia!"

Other notable directors, like Mike Mylod (who won two Primetime Emmys for his work on "Succession") haven't had this issue. The same goes for great actors like John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, and Nicholas Hoult (who was announced to play Gilderoy Lockhart on the show this week). It's hard to imagine the "Harry Potter" series won't be a hit when it debuts on HBO Max later this year, but one thing's for certain: This controversy will never die down because Rowling is steadfast in her beliefs.