Graham Norton has spoken out about his decision to feature an interview with JK Rowling on his radio show.
Last month, Graham spoke to the Harry Potter author on his Virgin Radio show about, among other things, her new novel and one of its prevalent themes, so-called “cancel culture”.
The decision was met with raised eyebrows from some at the time, due to Rowling’s well-documented comments about gender identity and transgender women.
However, in a new interview with The Times, Graham defended having the writer on his show, insisting it “feels wrong” to him not to interview someone just because he disagrees with their views.
“Am I suddenly the f**king moral arbiter of the world who says who can be on TV or can’t? No,” he said.
“People will be on my show and I’ll laugh with them and that will annoy some people, but not having them on seems just as bad.”
He added: “[I] wouldn’t have her on to air her views, [but] she has the right to still wang on about her crime novel. The easiest thing would be to not have her on, but that didn’t seem right.”
While she has denied that she is transphobic, Rowling has repeatedly come under fire for her remarks about the trans community in recent history.
After her interview was first announced last month, musical theatre creators Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow pulled out of their own scheduled interview on the same show as they “didn’t feel comfortable being on the same billing as JK Rowling”.
During her interview with Graham, the Wizarding World creator also addressed speculation about her absence from the Harry Potter cast’s recent reunion special.