BBC faces 200 complaints after presenter failed to dispute claims JK Rowling was “annoying” and transphobic

The BBC received 199 complaints after a prominent news anchor failed to challenge a guest who claimed JK Rowling was transphobic.

Evan Davis allowed transgender woman Stacey Henley to criticize Rowling’s “annoying views” during a video game discussion Hogwarts legacy on radio 4 Watch show earlier this month.

Henley, editor-in-chief of The Gamer, accused the writer of promoting “transphobia” and said she had waged an active campaign “against transgender people”.

Davis said Rowling “wouldn’t say she’s transphobic,” but those attempts to balance the conversation came just minutes after Henley’s initial comments.

The BBC apologized for the conversation after listeners said it offered an “unfair characterization” of Rowling’s views on transgender issues.

“We accept that there was not enough resistance to the demands and that we fell short here,” the BBC said. “This is a difficult and controversial area which we try very hard to cover fairly and well on the BBC. However, we should have spoken to Stacey Henley more directly about her allegations and apologized for not doing so.”

Davis also acknowledged that the listeners’ criticism was justified. “I think we may have gotten stuck because we made a real effort NOT to discuss @jk_rowling or the content of her views. We didn’t intend or design it that way.” he tweeted.

Rowling’s views on transgender issues have attracted a lot of criticism over the years, including from some of the biggest stars in the Harry Potter film series.

The author’s position will be explored in an upcoming podcast, The Witch Trials by JK Rowlingin which she will say that her views are “deeply” misunderstood.

“It was never my intention to upset anyone. However, I didn’t feel uncomfortable stepping off my pedestal,” she says in a trailer for The Free Press show, which starts on February 21.