Paapa Essiedu says he received death threats after HBO casting

Ever since it was revealed in December of 2024 that Paapa Essiedu would be playing Professor Severus Snape in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series, some people have had a problem with it. There have been a lot of bigoted comments directed Essiedu's way online, to the point where stars of the original Harry Potter movies, like Jason Isaacs, have condemned it.

"Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen some people online who are being rude about him. What they’re being is racist," Isaacs said in July of 2025. Essiedu told The Times, "I’ve been told, ‘Quit or I’ll murder you,’" and added that "if I look at Instagram I will see somebody saying, ‘I’m going to come to your house and kill you.’" He said he doesn't actually expect to be killed and has not reported the threats: "I don’t think some 17-year-old boy being put in jail for two weeks for threatening to murder me would actually make me feel any better," he said.

He also described using the abuse as motivation: "But the abuse fuels me.

paapa essiedu, severus snape, hbo, harry potter, casting controversy, death threats, online abuse, racism, jason isaacs, the times