JK Rowling has denied intending to “upset anyone” with her views on transgender rights. The Harry Potter author was attacked by some activists when she questioned allowing trans women in women-only spaces.

Ms Rowling, 57, told the podcast The Witch Trials Of JK Rowling that critics who claim her gender stance has “ruined” her legacy “could not have misunderstood me more profoundly”. She has repeatedly denied being transphobic.

But she added on the podcast: “I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.

“I do not walk around my house thinking about my legacy. What a pompous way to live your life. I’ll be dead.

“I care about now. I care about the living.” The podcast is presented by Megan Phelps-Roper who fled life in the extremist Westboro Baptist Church in the US.

It tries to draw parallels between Christian fundamentalists who burned Potter books 20 years ago for their “witchcraft”, and current opponents of Ms Rowling. She called book burning “the last resort of people who cannot argue”.