JK Rowling hits back at racism backlash over Claudia Kim casting as Nagini in Fantastic Beasts

Rowling faced a backlash on social media

Shut Down: JK Rowling hit back at critics

Dave Benett

Safeeyah Kazi27 September 2018

J.K Rowling has hit back at accusations of racism after Claudia Kim was unveiled as Nagini in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film.

The South Korean actress plays Lord Voldemort’s pet snake Nagini in The Crimes of Grindelwald – a character who is later beheaded by Neville Longbottom in The Deathly Hallows.

The revelation unsettled some fans who branded the casting racially insensitive as Nagini is a cursed woman who is submissive to a man.

However, the prolific author has now blasted critics on social media.

Responding to a tweet accusing her of using “representation as an afterthought”, she explained: “The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini.’

“They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day.”

The response comes after Nagini was unveiled as a Maledictus – a female who carries a blood curse from birth which eventually results in them turning into a beast, as part of the latest instalment in the Harry Potter prequel franchise.

Fans of the wizarding world were left furious that the casting had been overlooked.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald - Trailer

One Twitter user posted: “Do...do the people behind Fantastic Beasts really not see the issue with having Nagini, Voldemort’s *pet* who is *beheaded* in the final book, actually be an Asian woman? *That’s* the Asian representation?”

Another wrote: “I feel like this is the problem when white people want to diversify and don't actually ask POC how to do so. They don't make the connection between making Nagini an Asian woman who later on is the pet of a white man. So I'm going to say it right now. That s*** is racist.”

A third posted: “Wooooow just when you thought the idea behind this film couldn’t get any worse they make Nagini an Asian woman. Which means she was a submissive Asian woman for a white male this entire time......a racist trope and fetish.”