BBC Apologizes to J.K. Rowling Again, After Another Unchallenged Attack on Her Gender Views

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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling received yet another apology from the BBC after they aired an unchallenged attack regarding her views on gender.

On the Feb. 10 edition of Good Morning Scotland on BBC Radio, according to Deadline, the show discussed the release of the Hogwarts Legacy video game, based on Rowling’s popular book franchise.

A guest on the show, Carrie Marshall, who is a transgender woman, told the broadcasters that she decided to boycott the popular game because she believed it was funding “the anti-trans movement.”

She went on to say, “This is having a measurable effect on trans people’s lives and potentially our safety too. I think that’s why so many trans people are concerned about this game.”

After the network reviewed the comments made on the show, they concluded the remarks did not meet editorial standards.

“The debate got into the issue of gender identity and claims were made about JK Rowling’s views. We accept that the programme failed to challenge these claims and acknowledge that our contributors gave their opinion as fact,” BBC said in a statement.

“This fell below the rigorous editorial standards we’ve applied to our broad coverage of trans and gender recognition stories across BBC Scotland’s news and current affairs output, and we apologise for that,” the BBC wrote.

This news comes weeks after another BBC program aired unchallenged critiques of Rowling, for which the network later apologized.

During a segment of BBC Radio 4’s PM show hosted by Evan Davis, a guest, Stacey Henley remarked that Rowling was pushing transphobia and had a “campaign against trans people.”

Davis replied, “Obviously, J.K. Rowling… wouldn’t say she’s transphobic.”

The BBC later issued an apology saying, “We should have challenged the claims more directly and we apologise that we did not.”