Trans rights protesters rushed the red carpet ahead of a gala performance of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child at London’s Palace Theatre on Thursday, with one wearing a T-shirt reading “Rowling money kills”.

The protesters wore masks and hats to conceal their identities and lay down on the red carpet during arrivals. They were quickly removed by security.

The action took place as celebrities arrived for the special performance, including Vanessa Feltz, Richard Arnold, Anne Hegerty and Angellica Bell. 

What happened at the Palace Theatre red carpet?

The protest targeted the London production of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, the long-running West End show set in the Wizarding World. The “Rowling money kills” slogan appeared to criticise JK Rowling, the author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series.

Rowling has faced controversy in recent years because of her vocal stance on gender identity. She has previously said she thinks biological sex is “real” and “immutable”, and has criticised self-declared gender identity as “quasi-religious” and “anti-science”. Rowling has denied being transphobic and has previously said she respects “every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them”.

The Palace Theatre has previously been the focus of trans rights protests linked to Rowling’s comments. In January, trans people drew hundreds of chalk messages outside the theatre during a showing of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child as audiences queued to go in.

Why was there a gala for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child?

The gala marked the arrival of a newly reworked version of the show in London. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is a stage play written by Jack Thorne, based on an original story by Thorne, Rowling and John Tiffany, and it premiered in the West End in 2016.

It has since been reworked as a one-part show with a running time of just under three hours. It is significantly shorter than the original two-part version, which ran for more than five hours and could be watched across a matinee and evening performance in one day, or over two separate evenings.