Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski, co-creator of The Matrix, told Variety that Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling are “literal Nazis,” and said fans of Harry Potter are “supporting trans genocide” by buying into Rowling’s work.
“These people are Nazis. They’re literal Nazis,” Wachowski said, repeating the widely debunked claim that Musk performed a Nazi salute at a Trump event. “He did a full-blown Sieg Heil on a national stage.” The gesture in question came during a celebration of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and the claim that it was a Nazi salute has been repeatedly discredited.
Wachowski went further, suggesting other countries should isolate the United States over what he called dangerous “Nazi propaganda.”
“I think that the global community needs to firewall the U.S. from their populaces in a way because this country has allowed Nazi propaganda to proliferate at such a degree that it has become dangerous to the global population.”
Turning to Rowling, Wachowski argued that anyone who enjoys Harry Potter is complicit in harming transgender people. “J.K. Rowling funds trans genocide, full stop. So, if you support Harry Potter, you’re supporting trans genocide,” he said, claiming money spent on the franchise flows to Rowling and then to “anti-trans legislation all over the world.”
Variety also praised Wachowski for having tweeted “Fuck both of you” at Musk and Ivanka Trump over their comments about taking “the red pill” — a reference drawn from The Matrix, which Wachowski co-created. Wachowski insisted conservatives who use the term are distorting the film’s meaning.
“I can’t sit in a room and explain the movie to every single person who watches it. Even if I did sit in a room with Elon Musk and Ivanka Trump — yikes — it doesn’t matter. They’re not misunderstanding the film; they’re co-opting a message.”
He then likened the pair to fascists. “And that’s what fascists do: They co-opt the messages of progressives and use it to their benefit to confuse and obfuscate what is going on and the intention of their ideology. They do it with everything,” he said.
On a lighter note, Wachowski praised director Christopher Nolan for casting transgender actor Elliot Page in The Odyssey, calling it “the definition of allyship” and complaining that few others in Hollywood have followed suit. “There are people out there who have the power to cast trans actors, but what the fuck are they doing?” he said.
Asked about upcoming projects, Wachowski mentioned a collaboration with actor Abigail Thorn on a story called “Billionaire Killers,” set in a post-apocalyptic world “where all these billionaires are in these bunkers and they’ve got to dig ’em out.”
