Jon Stewart insists he did not accuse J.K. Rowling of being antisemitic when talking about how goblins run a prominent bank in the Harry Potter franchise.
The comedian, who is Jewish himself, posted a video to his Twitter account Wednesday in which he sought to clarify what he said during a December 2021 episode of his show after it made headlines last week.
“I cannot stress this enough. I’m not accusing J.K. Rowling of being antisemitic. She need not answer to any of it. I don’t want the Harry Potter movies censored in any way,” he said.
Newsweek et al, may eat my ass. pic.twitter.com/eRoYYeNRi1
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 5, 2022
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In the Dec. 16 episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart, Stewart drew comparisons from the goblins in Harry Potter that work at Gringotts Wizarding Bank to illustrations in the 1903 book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which has been deemed as antisemitic.
“Here’s how you know Jews are still where they are. Talking to people, here’s what I say: ‘Have you ever seen a Harry Potter movie? Have you ever seen the scenes in Gringotts Bank? Do you know what those folks who run the bank are? Jews,'” he said on the show.
Stewart said his comments were not meant to take aim at Rowling or the Harry Potter franchise but rather were a “lighthearted conversation amongst colleagues and chums.” He also pointed out that the original video in question was nearly a month old and called recent media coverage “bonkers.”
“I really love the Harry Potter movies,” he said. “I just want to say that none of that is true, and a reasonable person could not have looked at that conversation and not found it lighthearted.”
So @jonstewart recently broke Hollywood’s complete silence on @jk_rowling unapologetically maintaining antisemitic folklore through Harry Potter. pic.twitter.com/ezWrxpzryB
— raf (@rafaelshimunov) January 3, 2022
Stewart’s podcast prompted reactions from other users.
One user, Rafael Shimunov, wrote in response, “So @jonstewart recently broke Hollywood’s complete silence on @jkrowling apologetically maintaining antisemitic folklore through Harry Potter.”
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Rowling has also drawn controversy over the years for her comments about transgender people. The author has emphasized that she is strongly opposed to discrimination against transgender people but feels that biological sex is a real concept.
