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Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad about JK Rowling's Transphobic comments: "I can agree she has the right to hold her opinions."
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
What a fucking tool lol, was better off not saying anything at all.
Her opinions have led to suicide attempts and self-harm in trans children, law reform for trans rights being scrapped, transitioning to be thought of as a dangerous new gay conversion therapy and discourse around trans women and bathrooms to be poisoned. Alongside other instances of harm and a general increase in transphobic rhetoric and push for the rights and healthcare of trans people to be restricted or removed.
Her opinions have led to suicide attempts and self-harm in trans children, law reform for trans rights being scrapped, transitioning to be thought of as a dangerous new gay conversion therapy and discourse around trans women and bathrooms to be poisoned. Alongside other instances of harm and a general increase in transphobic rhetoric and push for the rights and healthcare of trans people to be restricted or removed.
Rowling wouldn't be protected by the First Amendment, considering the UK has hate speech laws that can result in imprisonment and fines (most typically the latter though)
Of course given the state of this country and its intrinstic transphobia problem (even our purportedly leftwing newspapers are shockingly outdated) the chance of what she's doing being classified as hate speech is low
funny how issues around trans rights are always only an "opinion" that ppl can agree or disagree with when ppl don't have any problems rightfully cutting ties with/calling out otherwise bigoted shits. and with funny i mean fucking depressing im so sick of this shit
if you're gonna say "she has the right to hold her opinions" you should've just kept your mouth shut. its such a fucking spineless response my god. she doesnt have the fucking right to do that when there's trans people she's been actively harming with it for fucking years. how many more trans kids need to self-harm or try to commit suicide due to her own fucking words before ppl will stop being fucking cowards
if you're gonna say "she has the right to hold her opinions" you should've just kept your mouth shut. its such a fucking spineless response my god. she doesnt have the fucking right to do that when there's trans people she's been actively harming with it for fucking years. how many more trans kids need to self-harm or try to commit suicide due to her own fucking words before ppl will stop being fucking cowards
Fuck this company, fuck TERFs, fuck this game, and fuck any hopes of me ever buying their games again
Garbage response, if only we could put people to the pyre for allowing shit like this to continue
Garbage response, if only we could put people to the pyre for allowing shit like this to continue
even buying the game used wouldn't be enough tbh, you're still fundamentally engaging with the work/lore of a racist, transphobic piece of shit and contributing to her legacy (fitting title for the game) even if it's not in an explicitly financial sense
I know it doesn't in America but I'm not familiar with UK laws. It should be, if you plan to spew out hate, there needs to be consequences you must face.
In my home country (Turkey) free speech doesn't cover hateful and discriminating comments, and it even covers transphobia (though current government is doing its best for it not to). We even had executed a sitting prime minister over antisemitic speeches.
I haven't enjoyed how the last 4 years have normalized being a complete piece of shit as just some 'difference of opinion'.
that's about as much as you can do as an exec that wants to keep their job. im sure he has plenty choice words about her behind closed doors, but you cannot expect an exec within WB to express those, hell the company at large has a reckoning coming. Singling him out is just picking off a straggler in the larger herd. You could ask why employees are still working on the game, why is anyone associating with the HP brand, why to anything involving Rowling. I'd like for nothing more than the entire empire to turn to ash, but unfortunately that is not the reality. It's going to be extremely interesting to watch coverage of this game and how well it does financially for WB at large. The brand is still strong, name recognition is still huge and unless you're actively keeping children away from discovering the books, they're still going to find them very easily.
"Ms Rowling is entitled to hold her viewpoints. But to make our own position crystal clear, we at Warner Bros. believe in human rights and equality of all people, no matter your race, religion, sexuality, creed or gender identity. That is not up for debate nor compromise."
And I dont hold a PR degree, but I imagine there's ways to make yourself show some spine in this.
And I dont hold a PR degree, but I imagine there's ways to make yourself show some spine in this.
That's a big yikes.
I bet every trans people working under the Warner Bros games umbrella must feel extremely bad right now
I bet every trans people working under the Warner Bros games umbrella must feel extremely bad right now
I don't disagree with you at all. Me saying " don't buy brand new" is the only possible way I can extend an olive branch to folks who don't give a shit about trans people when purchasing video games. It's not great. But it's all I got.
Fuck off with the "might not" or "may not". They're a private citizen as well, so give they could have given their own damn opinion. Could have tactfully disagreed with her by removing the may/might but still having the spineless out of her having the right to her [harmful] opinions.
She is entitled to have her opinions, and I'm entitled to have my unfavorable opinion of her.
I understand that WB is in a bad place with having spent millions of dollars and years of work on this game. I definitely do not envy their situation but at the same time they don't need to try to spin this to not being so bad. Own up to the terribleness of the author and show what you are doing to relay a better message.
I understand that WB is in a bad place with having spent millions of dollars and years of work on this game. I definitely do not envy their situation but at the same time they don't need to try to spin this to not being so bad. Own up to the terribleness of the author and show what you are doing to relay a better message.
Why is it so hard to just stand up for the right thing? Game looks amazing but I'll never financially support cowardice like this.
Well, there isn't much he can say tbh, JK can probably cause some serious problems to them if they don't play nice with her (like using her vetting pwoers to leave the game in limbo or something). In this case saying nothing would've been better, this will probably cause more damage than silence.
"And yet we're still gonna pay her royalties, cause Harry Potter is one of our biggest cash cows, and most people will buy this game regardless."
lmao what a fucking clown
Good thing they couldn't make a decent LOTR game to save their lives, just makes it easier never to touch a single one of their products
Good thing they couldn't make a decent LOTR game to save their lives, just makes it easier never to touch a single one of their products
While the ideal scenario is a game that either doesn't exist or at least doesn't funnel money into Rowling's pocket, which is impossible given she's alive, I do really wish Warner and co had the guts to double down on trans inclusivity with the project if it absolutely has to exist. Open the game with an explicit statement of inclusivity and support for the LGBT+ community, and build the character creator in such a way that pronouns are detached from physicality. If the game is going to exist at least make it a fuck you to Rowling's ideology.
so then why are you continuing to develop and work with Rowling is the question that would be levied.
I'm hoping most don't but sadly we know mass numbers won't compromise their entertainment to stand against this.