Keira Knightley - they don’t accept her apology apparently

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Has anyone seen the clip from a KK interview, doing the rounds on X?
Shes voicing Umbridge in the new audiobook.

She was asked ‘Are you aware that some fans are calling for a boycott, given JKR’s ongoing campaign against trans people?’ to which she responds ‘I was not aware of that, no. I’m very sorry’. Then laughs.

She then says ‘We’re all living in a period of time right now, and we’re all going to have to figure out how to live together, aren’t we? And we’ve all got very different opinions. So I hope we can all find respect’

https://x.com/salltweets/status/1978194338187251747?s=46&t=ALGAiHxwK3XXeRoDQylnWA

TRA reaction is as expected.

And her ‘apology’ is Not. Accepted:

https://metro.co.uk/2025/10/13/lgbt-ally-supporting-harry-potter-mutually-exclusive-24413343/amp/

I seem to remember she got quite naked in Dr Zhivago, when she was only 17. She's only a year older than me and I felt that she was very young to be doing a scene like that. I wasn't sure whether I was in awe of her confidence or uncomfortable with the nudity, or a bit of both.

As far as I'm aware that was her first major role. I wonder whether she regretted doing that scene or felt coerced into it afterwards?

I know film stars like KK will be under contract to do a certain amount of interviews to promote whatever new feature they're in, but it annoys me that their agents can't avoid interviewers with an agenda like this one.

Or for bigger name interviewers / media platforms, make an agreement that the star will talk about the production but won't be answering questions like this because they are stupid not relevant.

That’s mid twentieth century, so modern! Certainly to someone my age.

But irrelevant, so I’ll leave it now.

I think you're probably right about that.

But it's still quite brave to be willing to test the water like that.

You're basically trying to find out:

1. Do people still care about whether Keira Knightley is a good trans ally or not, or is this tedious fad on its way out?
2. If people do still care, is Keira Knightley too big to be cancelled?

Mind you, I think if she had said, "Oh, I fully agree with and support JK Rowling and all the wonderful work she's been doing to support women's rights" she would probably be cancelled.

I don’t know if she has ever spoken publicly about the topic. I’m not sure Bashford knows either. The poorly written article says that Knightley has failed in her trans allyship but then goes on to give examples of ways in which she has previously shown support for the LGB, for example the lesbian themes in Bend it Like Beckham, playing a character in an Alan Turing film, and playing a bisexual woman in a different film… This is seen as Knightley supporting the queer community- Bashford is making the mistake of assuming that anyone who supports the LGB must also support the TQ.

I haven't watched that version, but that is really shocking to me! I know she was a teenager, but at 17 she was still basically a child.

I wonder whether she regretted doing that scene or felt coerced into it afterwards?

I would imagine there was a lot of pressure on her to do nude scenes.

I think it shows great strength and intelligence to go on to build such a great career as a young woman while avoiding roles like that.

But at this point in time, ‘cancelled’ by whom and with what tangible effect?

Well, I guess what's that they're trying to find out.

Do "they" still have the power to cancel anyone, or is everyone sick to the back teeth of "them"?

It is when they feel like it and not when they don’t.

It’s clear they want her to denounce JKR. Nothing short of that is sufficient.

Not sure why it is not simply seen as “acting in those role which she is paid for” mind you, rather than them assuming the roles = ally! By the same token Colin Firth would be seen as an ally to royalty, or Alan Rickman an ally to terrorists. The list would be endless.

A good response along the lines of 'this whole noise is unworthy of my notice' - but it's a bit disingenuous. For this to have passed you by you'd have to have been living under a rock for a decade.

I wish one day one of them would come right out with it and say: 'You're taking a real liberty in trying to tell me what work I may or may not accept. Who do you think you are? Some people's views differ from yours; you're just going to have to get used to it'.

Knightley's response didn't stop too far short of this, which on its own is progress.

It’s nice to hear trans ideology casually described as an opinion.

Dear me.

She went off alarming about having her boobs enlarged in a promotional poster for Pirates of the Caribbean. So maybe she's fully clued up about the sexism involved in the ideology.

In any event, I think that's a good answer. If asked again, I hope she just repeats it. As I said, I hope everyone can try and get on.

It's a perfect answer. To just brush off such silly questions, bloody good on her no matter what she actually privately thinks or if she truly thinks nothing about it.

Toto, I don't think we're in 2017 anymore.

Oh yes! They did that with the promotional posters for King Arthur too.

On the other thread @fromorbit's post at 8.47am was interesting. It sounds like KK's a feminist.

I think the "you're taking a real liberty" line comes across as overly defensive, which implies that there is something to defend.

I think the only way Keira's response could have been improved upon is if, rather than claiming to be unaware of the controversy, she had simply acknowledged that some people are not happy about it. Basically, "Yes, I'm aware that some people are upset because they disagree with JK Rowling's opinions and believe that there shouldn't be any new adaptations of her work. But there are also many other people who love the world of Harry Potter and are excited about the new audio book, and I'm really delighted to be a part of bringing it to life for them. At the end of the day, I'm an actor, not an activist, and I haven't done anything wrong by taking this role." Then the part about everyone having different opinions and needing to find a way to live together.

It would be more powerful if the subtext was, "Some people will be upset and that's OK. They are allowed to be upset. They are not allowed to tell everyone else what to do."

But it's pretty powerful as it is.

Based on this essay of hers from a few years ago, Keira Knightley is well aware of the impact of being female and the importance of the female body:

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2018/10/213194/keira-knightley-birth-feminism-essay

"Some people will be upset and that's OK. They are allowed to be upset. They are not allowed to tell everyone else what to do."

I can so see JKR wearing that on a t shirt one day.

You know what it reminds me of? When you are making a half hearted attempt to 'hear' a child who is being unreasonable. Like 'You wanted spaghetti for dinner, I didn't know that, sorry. But tonight it's shepherd's pie, that's what I've cooked and that's what we're having and you'll just have to make the best of it."

Basically just 'Come on. Get a grip'.

I’ve always liked her! 😀

I was once in a work meeting where they were reminding everyone of the importance of being careful what we say due to reflection on the organisation only for someone later in the same meeting to talk about JK Rowling being a terf and nobody batted an eyelid 🙄Just a microcosm of the double standards.

I think more and more people are just brazening it out though, refusing to bend and just getting through the initial onslaught.

Lizzie Bennett wouldn’t have bowed to trans ideology either. One of five sisters, not one of whom can inherit the family home?! And the GRA means even wearing a frock, as opposed to a frock coat, wouldn’t have stopped the odious Mr Collins from swiping Longbourn.

Well done Keira – you’re doing her proud.

Yes, she'd have been fucking raging that she couldn't get a gender recognition certificate and inherit the house.