‘Black Mirror’ Director Ally Pankiw Roasts ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series

Ally Pankiw certainly won’t be working on HBO‘s upcoming Harry Potter series.

The Black Mirror director shared an Instagram post that appears to show an SMS exchange with her agent in which she emphatically turns down an opportunity to board the series.

“I have an instinct on the answer but I feel compelled to ask,” writes the agent. “Harry Potter? Hard no?”

Pankiw responds, “Absolutely fucking not! lol… (But thank you for asking)”, before the agent writes, “Of course :)… I assumed as much… (And agree).”

The Canadian director, who also has credits for the likes of The Great, shared the post with the caption, “It is simply this easy to say no to funding transphobia,” and added the opportunity was “for directing, not acting… obviously lol”.

Pankiw’s post drew support from the likes of actor and comedian Vic Michaelis, Welcome to Flatch and Big Mistakes actress Taylor Ortega and Loki, Doctor Who and Sex Education director Kate Herron. The latter wrote in the comments, “They’ve asked me twice and I’ve had to explain my answer is never going to change from a no.”

We’ve reached out to HBO for confirmation Pankiw was on its list of directors.

Pankiw’s post is a reminder of how the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, has become toxic in many quarters well before its December launch. This is down to Harry Potter writer and creator J.K. Rowling’s long-held views towards trans people, which have created distance between her and the movie franchise’s stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.

Even the likes of the upcoming series stars Nick Frost, John Lithgow, Paapa Essiedu and Bel Powley have openly disagreed with Rowling. They now face regular online criticism for joining the show.

While Rowling has occasionally fought back against those who dub her transphobic – even at one point tweeting, “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them” – she regularly shares anti-trans posts, antagonizes openly trans people and has celebrated a UK high court ruling that women are defined by biological sex.

The Harry Potter series is based on Rowling’s blockbuster books. She is an executive producer alongside Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV and David Heyman of Heyday Films.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, titled the same as the first movie, will debut Christmas Day on HBO and will be available to stream exclusively on HBO Max globally.