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Jon Stewart is pushing back against a viral news story claiming that he accused Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling of anti-Semitism on a December 2021 episode of The Problem With Jon Stewart podcast.
“I do not think J.K. Rowling is anti-Semitic. I did not accuse her of being anti-Semitic,” Stewart said in a video shared on his Twitter account. “I do not think the Harry Potter movies are anti-Semitic. I really love the Harry Potter movies, probably too much for a gentleman of my considerable age.”
During the podcast episode (which the comedian said came out “two COVID mutations ago), Stewart pointed out how the goblins in the Potter series embody anti-Semitic tropes.
“It’s a wizarding world… we can ride dragons, you can have a pet owl… but who should run the bank? Jews,” he said, pointing out how the goblins in the films resemble anti-Semitic illustrations featured in the 1903 book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
In the new clip, Stewart clarified that his previous discussion was a “lighthearted conversation amongst colleagues and chums” about his experience watching the Potter movies for the first time as a Jewish man. As he pointed out, the goblins are an example of “how some tropes are so embedded in society that they’re basically invisible, even in a considered process like moviemaking.”
He closed out with a message for people misinterpreting his comments: “I don’t want the Harry Potter movies censored in any way. It was a lighthearted conversation. Get a fucking grip.”
