- Jon Stewart described the goblins in "
Harry Potter " as an antisemitic trope. - In the film franchise, goblins work at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
Jon Stewart criticized J.K. Rowling for the use of goblins in the "Harry Potter" film series, which he described as an antisemitic caricature.
During a December episode of his podcast "The Problem with Jon Stewart," Stewart drew comparisons between the appearance of goblins in "Harry Potter" and illustrations of Jewish people in the 1903 book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an infamous antisemitic text that dates back to the early 20th century.
In the "Harry Potter" film franchise, goblins work and occupy Gringotts Bank, the central bank of Rowling's Wizarding World.
"Here's how you know Jews are still where they are. Talking to people, here's what I say: '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!'" Stewart said on the podcast episode.
"And they're like, 'Oh, look at that, that's from 'Harry Potter!' And you're like, 'No, that's a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature.' J.K. Rowling was like, 'Can we get these guys to run our bank?' It's a wizarding world…we can ride dragons, you can have a pet owl… but who should run the bank? Jews."
Stewart later added that he has been surprised by the lack of criticism the films have faced for the use of goblins as bankers.
"It was one of those things where I saw it on the screen and I was expecting the crowd to be like, 'Holy shit, she [Rowling] did not, in a wizarding world, just throw Jews in there to run the fucking underground bank," he said.
Representatives for J.K. Rowling did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Rowling has previously spoken out in support of British Jews in the fight against
In 2018, Rowling tweeted examples of antisemitism and described how "UK Jews are currently having to field this kind of cr*p."
Stewart is not the first person to describe the use of goblins as bankers in "Harry Potter" as an antisemitic trope, though.
In 2020, Pete Davidson criticized Rowling and the use of goblins in the "Potter" franchise during a segment on "SNL," which has since been widely shared across social media.
"Who controls the banks?" he asked at the beginning of the segment. "Jews obviously. Little giant-nosed Jew goblins. And I can say that because, as you can see, I'm half-goblin."
—raf (@rafaelshimunov) January 3, 2022
Last week, HBO Max released its wizarding-world reunion show "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts." The one-off reunion special was commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first film in the "Potter" franchise.
J.K. Rowling — who has faced widespread criticism for comments she has made about trans people — appeared sparingly in the special, through clips from an archived 2019 Warner Bros. Studio Tour London interview, but not in any new footage.