Directors Pankiw and Herron decline HBO Harry Potter over Rowling trans-rights stance

Ally Pankiw (Black Mirror, Schitt's Creek) posted an Instagram screenshot of her WME rep asking about the HBO Harry Potter series; she replied "Absolutely f—ing not!" and wrote it is "this easy to say no to funding transphobia." Kate Herron (Loki, Sex Education) commented she was asked twice and refused both times. Rowling's reps declined to comment. Variety, 14 August 2026.