‘Hang on!’ Tom Harwood and Emily Carver turn on each other in tense GB News row as JK Rowling remark sparks fury: ‘Yada, yada, yada’
Watch as GB News hosts Tom Harwood and Emily Carver turn on each other after speaking to gender critical activist Maya Forstater.
The People’s Channel was centring its discussion around Harry Potter author JK Rowling after Stephen Fry said she has been ‘radicalised’ after years of speaking against the trans movement.
Tom said he agreed with Fry’s perspective and it does not matter which side of the debate you land on, the point stands.
Emily took a different view and questioned why Fry took a swipe at the iconic author when she was not on hand to defend herself.
“Hang on, firstly she’s allowed to be brash and now we can’t criticise her because she’s not there to defend herself”, Tom said.
“He was a mate of hers. I wouldn’t do an interview about you and say all these nasty things, it’s a bit much”, Emily responded.
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Tom said: “It’s completely clear to me that JK Rowling used to never talk about this issue and now over the course of five years, it’s now all she talks about.
“She has clearly been radicalised and she’s clearly not been polite to trans people.”
Emily disagreed, saying Tom is the one who has been radicalised.
She added: “Fact is fact. You’re the radical one. This stuff has only been happening over the last five years.”
Tom disputed the latter point, saying people have been calling trans people by their preferred pronouns for decades.
Fry called JK Rowling a ‘lost cause’ over her stance on transgender rights during a recent appearance on The Show People podcast.
“She has been radicalised, I fear – perhaps by TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists), but also by the vitriol that is thrown at her,” the 67-year-old said. “It is unhelpful and only hardens her. I’m afraid she seems to be a lost cause for us.”
Fry, who narrated all seven Harry Potter audiobooks, said he disagrees “profoundly” with the author’s views on transgender issues.
The former QI host criticised Rowling’s social media posts about the transgender community. “She started to make these peculiar statements and had very strong, difficult views,” he said.
“She seemed to kick a hornet’s nest of transphobia that has been entirely destructive.”
Fry expressed particular concern about the tone of her comments. “She says things that are inflammatory, contemptuous and mocking. They add to a terribly distressing time for trans people,” he said.
He also criticised her for not disavowing “some of the more revolting and truly horrible, violently destructive things that people say” in support of her position.