Ted Lasso has a special Harry Potter moment

One of the first hits from Apple TV+, Ted Lasso, included a sly Harry Potter joke that is endearing but could not be welcomed by fans who are outraged by J.K. Rowling’s comments this year. 

Starring Saturday Night Live alum Jason Sudekis as Coach Lasso, the series follows the Kansas college coach as he takes over as the manager for a Premier League team in England. With the show set in London, it was seemingly only a matter of time before a Potter reference was made, and that moment came late in episode six.

Titled “Two Aces”, the episode sees the team dealing with a cursed training room and must sacrifice their most beloved items to seemingly rid the room of the souls of fallen war heros.

Sam Obisanya, a young player from Nigeria who is played by Toheeb Jimoh, stops into the office of the owner of the club, Rebecca Welton who is played by Game of Thrones alum Hannah Waddingham, to invite her to participate in the burning of the items.

Obisanya remarks that everyone always assumes that everyone assumes hes really into curses because he is Nigerian, but really that interest in curses came from his love for Harry Potter. He then asks Welton if she knew J.K. Rowling was richer than the queen, and of course she did.

He then says “I like the idea of someone becoming rich, because of what they gave to the world, not just because of who their family is”, to which Welton is left speechless.

It is one of many heartfelt moments in the show, and gives depth to a character that doesn’t get as much screen time as some of the other players on the team. With the show having been filmed before Rowling tweeted out her transphobic comments, the creators didn’t know what this type of remark would mean in the future.

Have you watched Ted Lasso? Did you catch this reference? Let us know in the comments below!