Did Stephen Fry turn on his friend J.K. Rowling when she didn’t back him for Dumbledore role in HBO’s new Harry Potter series? asks GRANT TUCKER

He proved his Loyalist by being kicked off the Notorious Traitors list last week; but now Sir Stephen Fry is facing suggestions that perhaps he is not so loyal after all.

Sir Stephen, 68, one of the first narrators of the Harry Potter audiobook series, has long been close to its author JK Rowling.

She vowed to ‘never abandon her friend’ as she came under fire for her pro-women stance on trans issues. But Sir Stephen later described Ms Rowling as a ‘lost cause’.

Now sources close to the children’s book’s author claim they may know why the presenter, once dubbed the ‘smartest man in the world’, changed his mind.

An employee of Ms Rowling told The Mail on Sunday that Sir Stephen had ‘envied’ a role in the television adaptation of the seven-book series for American media giant HBO.

The actor is said to have lobbied heavily after some fans called for him to be cast as Hogwarts headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore, but Ms Rowling refused to intervene in the casting process.

It was later announced that 80-year-old American actor John Lithgow was cast as Dumbledore, played by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon in the Harry Potter films.

Fry vows to ‘never abandon’ pal JK Rowling (pictured), who has come under fire for her views on transgender rights

The source said: ‘It’s no secret that Stephen wanted to star in the Harry Potter series and when he didn’t get the role there was a visible change in him.

‘After years of supporting Jo, he suddenly appeared to oppose her. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.’

Ms. Rowling gave clues about this situation. ‘Another man who once worked with me expressed regret for my beliefs about gender and gender,’ he said in a social media post in September, adding: ‘One of them went to great lengths to enlist my help to take a significant part in this. But when he couldn’t get it, he decided it was time to put the trunk on.’

Sir Stephen has made no secret of his desire to star in the new series, which is expected to be one of the most expensive television shows ever.

Asked if he had been approached for a role, he said in February: ‘I would definitely consider it, as I would anything else.’

But in June he distanced himself from the Harry Potter author, telling The Show People podcast: ‘I’m afraid he’s been radicalized and he may have been radicalized by the TERFs, but also by the harsh criticism that’s been thrown at him.

‘This is no help and only hardens him and I’m afraid it will only continue to harden him.

‘I’m not saying he shouldn’t be called out when he says really cruel, wrong and sarcastic things. It seems like a lost cause to us.

Fry lost out as headmaster of Hogwarts to John Lithgow (pictured) in the new series.

‘He started making these strange statements and had very strong, difficult views. It was as if he had awakened, or kicked, a completely destructive nest of transphobia. I totally disagree with him on this.

‘I’m angry that he doesn’t deny some of the more disgusting and truly horrific, violently destructive things that people have said. ‘He says provocative and derogatory, sarcastic things and contributes to a deeply distressing time for transgender people.’

He previously said in 2022: ‘[Ms Rowling’s] I have a friend and I have trans friends and intersex friends who feel very sorry for her. This is a circle I personally need to square. ‘I won’t abandon my friends.’

Ms Rowling responded to his return: ‘It is a great mistake to assume that everyone who claims to be my friend is accepted as a friend by me.’

Sir Stephen and Ms Rowling have been contacted for comment.