J.K. Rowling is being mocked on Twitter for saying that Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, two characters from her "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" series, had an "incredibly intense" sexual relationship.
Rowling has said for years that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were in a gay relationship. While fans have long speculated that it was sexual, Rowling confirmed the detail in a DVD feature and Blu-Ray for "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," released on March 12. Her comments went viral when they were unearthed by Radio Times.
"Their relationship was incredibly intense," Rowling said in the feature. "I'm less interested in the sexual side — though I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship — than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships."
Read more: 25 things you didn't know about J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' universe
The comment about Dumbledore and Grindelwald having a "sexual" relationship drew widespread mockery. Rowling has a habit of revealing new details about the "Harry Potter" universe after the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," was published in the summer of 2007. Later that year, for example, she revealed in a public appearance that Dumbledore had fallen in love with Grindelwald, inspiring more than a decade of sexually explicit fanfiction.
Rowling often drops new information about the "Harry Potter" universe in her tweets, her Pottermore site, and her follow-up works that sometimes resembles fanfiction.
—Safiya Nygaard (@safiyajn) March 17, 2019
—Karen DaltonBeninato (@kbeninato) March 17, 2019
—rachel syme (@rachsyme) March 17, 2019
—Llama In A Tux (@LlamaInaTux) March 17, 2019
—shen the bird (@Shen_the_Bird) March 17, 2019
—Katherine (@k_chittenden22) March 14, 2019
—Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) March 17, 2019
—The Give Smart Guy (@BobbyBigWheel) March 17, 2019
—Brandon (@blgtylr) March 17, 2019
—Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) March 17, 2019
—MISS VANJIE PARAS (@Punongbayan_) March 15, 2019
—Quackity (@QuackityHQ) March 17, 2019
Fans also criticized Rowling for relegating the queer elements of her "Harry Potter" universe as trivia, rather than being in the canonical books and movies.
—Kelsey Ellison ⚡️ (@KelseyEllison) March 17, 2019
—Jemima Skelley (@jemimaskelley) March 17, 2019
—im gay follow me (@cakeoryx) March 17, 2019
—Jemima Skelley (@jemimaskelley) March 17, 2019
—Eric D. Snider (@EricDSnider) March 16, 2019
"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," the second of a planned five-movie "Harry Potter" prequel series, was released in November to harsh reviews. In the movie, Rowling introduced new details about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's past that were reviled by fans.
Most recently, Pottermore — a site Rowling uses to share new details about her expanding "Harry Potter" universe — was widely mocked when it tweeted out an old detail about how wizards and witches relieved themselves and vanished the excrement before using plumbing.
- Read more:
- J.K. Rowling keeps expanding the 'Harry Potter' universe — and she’s only making it better
- 8 glaring inconsistencies in 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' that will frustrate 'Harry Potter' fans
- We've seen the villain in 'Fantastic Beasts' before — here's everything you need to know about him for future movies
- 25 things you didn't know about J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' universe
- 7 questions we have after finding out how old-timey Wizards 'relieved themselves' in 'Harry Potter'
- Here's what it's like inside the new 'Harry Potter' exhibit about the real-life history of magic
