Malcolm Gladwell now says "trans women have no place" competing in women's sports an apparent reversal from his previous support of their inclusion.In a new podcast interview, the Outliers author and former New Yorker staff writer said he regretted voicing his support for trans women when he moderated a panel at the 2022 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, claiming he was "cowed" into doing so, reports Newsweek."I'm ashamed of my performance at that panel because I share your position 100 percent and I was cowed," Gladwell said during an appearance on The Real Science of Sport on Tuesday. "The idea of saying anything on this issue I was, I believe in retrospect, in a dishonest way, I was objecting in a dishonest way.""If we did a replay of that exact panel at the Sloan conference this coming March, it runs in exactly the opposite direction," Gladwell added. "And it would be, I suspect, near unanimity in the room that trans athletes have no place in the female category. I don't think there's any question."Posting a link promoting the interview on X Wednesday, Gladwell captioned, "I went on my favorite podcast to talk about my favorite topic!" In response, the Canadian journalist, who rose to fame with books breaking down findings from social sciences, like The Tipping Point and Blink, received immediate backlash for, as user @mirrortown stated, giving "red meat to the transphobes who have never read Outliers."Added writer C.B. Huckabee: "Malcolm Gladwell is an archetype of the modern journalist: -cowed by the crowd -serves self over truth -mediocre writer who leverages group identity."Tim Miller, an analyst for MSNBC, pushed back on Gladwell's claim that he was cowed into supporting trans sports participation and essentially accused the writer of seeking validation and changing views with the political winds. "Rich people stop blaming their clinical desire to be loved on others challenge. These guys werent cowed into anything they said the en vogue thing then and they are saying the en vogue thing now. Zuck, Bezos, Dimon same story," Miller wrote on X.Rich people stop blaming their clinical desire to be loved on others challenge. These guys werent cowed into anything they said the en vogue thing then and they are saying the en vogue thing now. Zuck, Bezos, Dimon same story https://t.co/hVqBvDkaNf Tim Miller (@Timodc) September 2, 2025 Gladwell now joins the ranks of public figures among them California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, both of whom are seen as Democratic contenders for a presidential run denouncing trans participation in sports. In recent years, conservatives have sought to weaponize this issue and demonize transgender people for political gain, which has only heightened during the second Trump administration. And critics have accused liberals who have reversed their stances as essentially adopting the same tactic, which may backfire with the Democratic base.