Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is hitting back at Emma Watson's recent comments about their relationship.
In an extremely — and uneccessarily — lengthy new post on X, Rowling responded to Watson's comments on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, where Watson said that while she does not agree with Rowling's transphobia, she doesn't want to “cancel” the author either.
“It’s my deepest wish that I hope people who don’t agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with,” Watson said. Watson had previously spoken out against Rowling's views in 2020, saying, “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned.”
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Rowling once again shared her feelings on the matter on September 29, writing on X, “Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology. Such beliefs are legally protected, and I wouldn't want to see any of them threatened with loss of work, or violence, or death, because of them. However, Emma and Dan [Radcliffe] in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right—nay, obligation—to critique me and my views in public.”
Rowling went on to say that Watson and Radcliffe “continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created" and added that she had “repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically.” (Daniel Radcliffe has also spoken out against Rowling's transphobia.)
Rowling then referenced a statement Watson made during the 2022 BAFTAs, when the actor said she was “here for all witches.” Rowling called that a “turning point” in her relationship with Watson, and alleged that Watson had asked someone to give Rowling a letter that reportedly said, “I'm so sorry for what you're going through.”
“This was back when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak, at a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family's safety,” Rowling wrote. “Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.”
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The author continued, saying Watson has “so little experience of real life she's ignorant of how ignorant she is.”
“The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me—a change of tack I suspect she's adopted because she's noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was—I might never have been this honest. Adults can't expect to cosy [sic] up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love, as though the friend was in fact their mother. Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public—but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.”
She did so at the end of last week, posting a mocking video of Watson that is decidedly not funny and not very smart.
Watson has not publicly responded as of publication.
