Jon Stewart, who recently slammed J.K. Rowling over goblins that run Gringotts bank in her Harry Potter film series, says he didn't actually accuse the author of being anti-Semitic and that people need to 'get a f***ing grip'.
'I cannot stress this enough -- I am not accusing J.K. Rowling of being anti-Semitic,' Stewart said in a video shared to Twitter Wednesday attempting to put an end to the drama surrounding his comments.
'She need not answer to any of it. I don't want the Harry Potter movies censored in any way. It was a lighthearted conversation. Get a f***ing grip!'
The former host of The Daily Show raised the issue on the December 16 episode of his podcast, The Problem with Jon Stewart.
Stewart, who is Jewish, questioned why Rowling chose to 'throw Jews in there to run the f***ing underground bank' in a fictional world where people 'can ride dragons and have pet owls.'
However, Potter fans quickly jumped to the author's defense, pointing out her recent criticisms of ant-Semitism. A Jewish charity also claimed Rowling was 'very supportive' of the religious community.
Jon Stewart (pictured Wednesday), who recently slammed J.K. Rowling over goblins that run Gringotts bank in her Harry Potter film series, says he didn't actually accuse the author of being anti-Semitic and that people need to 'get a f***ing grip'
On Wednesday, Stewart attempted to clarify his remarks which he alleged were part of a 'lighthearted conversation'.
The podcaster claimed to 'love the Harry Potter movies' and said the accusations that Rowling is Semitic are 'bonkers'.
'I have to address this. This is bonkers, guys,' he said in his social media video. 'I do not think J.K. Rowling is anti-Semitic. I did not accuse her of being anti-Semitic. I do not think the Harry Potter movies are anti-Semitic.'
He added: 'I really love the Harry Potter movies, probably too much for a gentleman of my considerable age.'
Stewart said he loves the Harry Potter films and is 'not accusing J.K. Rowling (pictured) of being anti-Semitic'
Stewart, 59, said last month the banker goblin characters were based on caricatures of Jews from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous anti-semitic text that purports to show a Jewish plan for world domination.
'Here's how you know Jews are still where they are,' Stewart said in the episode before bemoaning how those who he's spoken to have been reluctant to acknowledge the resemblance.
'I just want to show you a caricature. 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?"'
When he first saw the Harry Potter films, Stewart said he expected other theater patrons to 'be like "h*** shit, she did not, in a wizarding world, to just throw Jews in there to run the f***ing underground bank." And everybody was just like "Wizards."'
The comedian now claims 'no reasonable person' would have heard those comments and assumed they were serious.
'There is no reasonable person that could've watched it and not seen it as a lighthearted conversation between colleagues and chums, having a larf, enjoying ourselves about Harry Potter -- my experience watching it for the first time in a theater as a Jewish guy, and how some tropes that are so embedded in society that they're basically invisible even in a considered process like movie making,' Stewart said Wednesday.
Stewart characterized the goblins as an obvious anti-Semitic trope, and questioned why more people haven't done the same (Pictured is a movie still from the first Harry Potter film)
The comedian now claims ' no reasonable person' would have heard those comments and assumed they were serious (Pictured: A goblin from the first Harry Potter film)
'We
