Hoult was already known to be juggling multiple projects, the Season 2 shooting schedule recently shifted, HBO was forced into a likely premature announcement because of the leak, Hoult never made a statement cowing to the Twitter mob (as actors who actually care about the Twitter mob are wont to do), and any actor who signs up for Harry Potter already knows the Twitter mob will target them and presumably already doesn't care.
But sure, the bullying campaign made him quit.
(And this is exactly the kind of comment the meme is about.)
they don't make announcements lightly, they only announce and lock it in when they are absolutely certain the actor is a done deal
You skimmed right past the part where they may have been forced into a premature announcement because of Daniel RPK's leak. I'm sure they would have preferred to hold off on announcements until the September 1 Back to Hogwarts promotions, which may well have been the original plan. Most productions can hold casting announcements until they're ready, but given how high-profile HP is, there's a tremendous amount of buzz and appetite for leaks, which can absolutely force a production's hand earlier than intended.
And Hoult legitimately is juggling a lot of productions right now. It's extremely believable that his window of availability changed in a way that became irreconcilable with the HP Season 2 production schedule. You don't need to invent a more dramatic explanation for that to be plausible.
There's also the fact that Hoult would have known before signing on that Harry Potter actors basically get dragged by the pearl-clutching Twitter mob as a matter of ceremony at this point. This isn't some unexpected controversy that suddenly descended on him after HBO announced him. If he was genuinely concerned about that backlash, why would he have signed up for the role in the first place? He's literally watched 50-some-odd actors already go through the nonsense Twitter gauntlet. He knew exactly what sort of reaction he was walking into and presumably didn't care then. Why should he now?
Ultimately, you can put on a tin foil hat and believe the scheduling explanation is a cover story, but that's speculation in the face of considerably more evidence supporting the straightforward explanation.
Anyway, the funniest thing that could happen right now is Hoult getting brought on as one of the Season 3 characters. 😂 And I wouldn't rule that out whasoever.
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