The news may have broken over the summer, but with “Saturday Night Live” back this month, Pete Davidson is now weighing in on the J.K. Rowling controversy.
Since Rowling made headlines this summer for her comments on transgender rights that have been widely deemed transphobic, many stars including “Potter” alums Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have come forward to condemn the author’s comments and show support to the trans community.
Speaking Saturday on the sketch comedy show’s “Weekend Update” segment, Davidson, 26, said he found her comments “very disappointing.”
“It really hurt. I have a close connection to those movies. I even look like Dobby the house elf, if he became a TikTok rapper,” Davidson quipped.
In a series of public posts in June, including tweets and an essay on her website, the “Harry Potter” author voiced her strong opinions on the trans community that conflated sex with gender and defended ideas suggesting that changing one’s biological sex threatens her own gender identity and even her safety.
Rowling suggested that by opening the doors to bathrooms and changing rooms to “any man who believes or feels he’s a woman,” the doors are open to all men who wish to come inside.
Widespread criticism of the posts as transphobic, hateful, harmful and factually inaccurate did not stop her from doubling down on her opinions.
“What’s wrong with her, Colin?” Davidson asked “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost. “She creates a seven-book fantasy series about all types of mythical creatures living in harmony with wizards and elves and the one thing she can’t wrap her head around is Laverne Cox? She’s a national treasure.”
The comedian, who has dozens of tattoos including several “Potter”-inspired ones, joked he would never get another tattoo “for the rest of my life” and longed for “a few years ago, where the worst thing she ever did were those ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movies.”
“No discrimination there, those films harmed us all equally,” he joked.
“Potter” actress Watson, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” star Eddie Redmayne, “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness and “Good Place” actress Jameela Jamil were among the stars who showed support for the transgender community this summer in the aftermath of Rowling’s comments.
“Transgender women are women,” the actor wrote. “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
Though the actor noted that Rowling is “unquestionably responsible” for the course of his life, he added he still feels “compelled to say something at this moment.”
“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you,” he continued. “I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”