Fact Check—Did JK Rowling Make 'Half Goblin' Jewish Harry Potter Character?

The claim that JK Rowling made a Jewish character "half goblin" in the Harry Potter books is gaining momentum online.

The popular book series established Rowling as a household name and resulted in her being one of the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom. However, she has gained notoriety in more recent years for expressing her contentious opinions on transgender people, which some LGBTQ+ activists have labeled as "transphobic," a claim Rowling has always refuted.

This isn't the only criticism that the author has faced over the years. People have often said the greedy goblins depicted in her books resemble the hook-nosed Jewish caricatures that have played a crucial role in antisemitic propaganda.

Comedian Jon Stewart even weighed in on the conversation in December 2021 when he said during a podcast appearance: "Have you ever seen a 'Harry Potter' movie? Have you ever seen the scenes in Gringotts bank? Do you know what those folks who run the bank are? Jews! And they're like, 'Oh, [that illustration is] from 'Harry Potter!'" And you're like, 'No, that's a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature.'"

Now this claim is hitting a fever pitch, all thanks to a post made on X, formerly Twitter.

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Rowling for comment Wednesday.

The Claim

A post on X has gone viral after a user shared a screenshot that alleges Rowling made the Jewish Harry Potter character, Anthony Goldstein, half goblin.

X user @probablyalissa shared a screenshot on Wednesday of an alleged exchange between Rowling and a fan of the book series.

In the screenshot, X user @benroffman asked the author if there were any Jewish characters in the Harry Potter series when he wrote: "My wife said there are no Jews at Hogwarts. I'm a Jew, so I assume she said it to be the only magical 1 in the family. Thoughts?"

To which Rowling allegedly responded: "Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, half goblin."

"I still can't believe she said that," the caption reads. At the time of writing, it had been viewed more than 778,000 times and was yet to have a Community Note attached debunking this information.

People have also taken to the comments to share their thoughts, with many believing the original post.

"Well she is an angry hate-filled bigot..." one person wrote.

"Of course the goblins are Jews. They handle the money. How stereotypical!" said another.

A third added: "I thought it was unwise for her to then go on to specify which half was the Jewish side."

However, others shared their suspicions that the screenshot wasn't real.

"As much as I hate JK, I'm pretty sure this was edited and she did not in fact say that. Not like I would put it past her though lol," a different X user commented.

"OK, so she didn't. The very fact that I believed this until I saw the evidence speaks volumes about how far she has fallen," someone else wrote.

"What's the point of posting fake images? I don't like her either, but all this does is muddy the argument and make her look better because people are making up what she did wrong. It makes her critics look stupid. I'm hoping you didn't know it was fake," another person replied.

The Facts

Goldstein was a half-blood wizard who was sorted into Ravenclaw house when he started attending Hogwarts. "Half-blood" is the term used in the series to refer to wizards and witches who have both magical and non-magical, or Muggle, ancestry.

He was also Jewish and was the first character to be identified as such, with Rowling revealing the information on X.

While X user @benroffman did ask the question that can be seen in the screenshot, Rowling never said the character was a half goblin. In fact, on December 16, 2014, she responded: "Anthony Goldstein, Ravenclaw, Jewish wizard."

The Ruling

Misleading Material. The screenshot shared to X making the initial claim has been edited and is spreading misleading information.

Rowling never said Goldstein was a character that was half goblin, but did take to social media to reveal that he is Jewish.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek