Staff leave JK Rowling’s Pottermore website in ‘reorganisation’
Written by News on 24/03/2018
A number of members of staff at JK Rowling’s popular website for Harry Potter fans have left as a result of digital push in a different direction.
Sky News contacted a representative for Pottermore, who said there had been “a small number of redundancies”, due to a new push for “compelling digital experiences”.
“Right now, we are working on some exciting new initiatives with Warner Bros and our franchise partners,” Pottermore’s representative said.
“Which will bring compelling digital experiences to global fans of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World.
“As a result, there have been a small number of redundancies within Pottermore. We are sorry to say goodbye to those affected but looking forward to sharing our new plans soon.”
The news was first reported by the website BuzzFeed News.
Pottermore is not just a fan website, but also a massive online community, with more than two million users on Facebook and another two million on Twitter.
The “reorganisation” of the website has sparked theories that the future of Pottermore could be at risk.
BuzzFeed News quoted one former employee who said the handling of the website has been “disappointing”.
“It’s essentially a glorified merchandise shop with some cute articles that might appeal to hardcore fans but don’t have enough of a point of difference from the rest of the internet’s writing about Harry Potter to survive,” he told BuzzFeed.
Rowling has recently been embroiled in another controversy, for defending Johnny Depp’s casting as wizard Grindelwald, after some users complained on Twitter.
“Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling said in response to allegations of domestic abuse by the actor.
“I accept that there will be those who are not satisfied with our choice of actor in the title role. However, conscience isn’t governable by committee. Within the fictional world and outside it, we all have to do what we believe to be the right thing.”
Depp was accused of domestic abuse by his former partner actress Amber Heard.
He denies the allegations.
(c) Sky News 2018: Staff leave JK Rowling’s Pottermore website in ‘reorganisation’
