Brian Cox Backs J.K. Rowling Over Trans Controversy, Calls Her Critics “High and Mighty”

Brian Cox is offering his support for J.K. Rowling amid ongoing debate surrounding the Harry Potter author’s previous comments that have been criticized as transphobic.

Cox, who plays patriarch Logan Roy on HBO’s Succession, recently appeared on the BBC talk program Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. During the interview, the Scottish actor described himself as “very proud” that the country’s Parliament last month voted to approve legislation allowing transgender people to change their legal gender without requiring any medical diagnosis. (The British government said Monday that it would block the new law.)

After calling the law “long-needed,” Cox was asked how he felt about the discourse surrounding Rowling, who has publicly backed opposition to the Scottish legislation.

“I don’t like the way she’s been treated, actually,” Cox said. “I think she’s entitled to her opinion; she’s entitled to say what she feels. As a woman, she’s very much entitled to say what she feels about her own body, and there’s nobody better to say that, as a woman.”

He continued, “So, I do feel that people have been a bit high and mighty about their own attitude towards J.K. Rowling, quite frankly.”

This is not the first time the actor has shared such sentiment. During a May interview with Piers Morgan, Cox referred to the backlash against Rowling as “deeply unjust.”

Rowling’s stance has been met with mixed reactions from Hollywood notables. While Harry Potter franchise stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have publicly condemned her remarks, Helena Bonham Carter, who played Bellatrix Lestrange in the films, has referred to the blowback against Rowling as “horrendous,” while Lord Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes previously said about the author that he can “understand where she’s coming from.”