JK Rowling dismisses Emma Watson as 'ignorant' and says she 'poured petrol on flames' in trans rights row
The statement comes days after the Harry Potter actress revealed she still “treasures” her relationship with author JK Rowling.
JK Rowling has accused Emma Watson of being “ignorant”, saying the Harry Potter actress publicly poured "petrol on the flames" amid their ongoing row over transgender views.
The author of the hugely successful Harry Potter series has previously been accused of transphobia for her views on gender identity, which she denies.
Watson and her Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint have publicly backed transgender rights in recent years and distanced themselves from Rowling.
Last week, in an interview, Watson said she still loved Rowling and refused to "cancel her out" despite their differences on the subject. Watson, 35, played Hermione Granger in the eight films based on Ms Rowling's books.
However, in a lengthy post to X on Monday, Rowling, 60, wrote: “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 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.”
However, Rowling said it was “hard to shake a certain protectiveness” after knowing someone since they were ten.
She added: “For the past few years, I've repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically, most notably on the Witch Trials of JK Rowling. Ironically, I told the producers that I didn't want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said.”
Rowling says Watson ‘poured more petrol on the flames’ during trans rights row
Rowling said the “turning point” in their relationship came in 2022 when Watson gave a Bafta speech saying “I’m here for all the witches”, which some perceived to be a criticism of the author’s beliefs on gender.
The Harry Potter author said that moment had "a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself" when Watson sent a note, despite having her phone number, that said "I'm so sorry for what you're going through".
Rowling added: "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.
"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."
Rowling claims Watson ‘never likely to need’ many single-sex spaces
Rowling went on to suggest Watson was "never likely to need" to use the types of single-sex spaces she has campaigned against trans people having access to, such as changing rooms and public toilets.
"I wasn't a multimillionaire at 14,” Rowling said. “I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous.
"I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women's rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges."
Rowling added: “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 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.”
Watson says she still ‘treasures Jo’
Watson was one of several stars of the Potter films, alongside Radcliffe, who distanced themselves from Rowling when the author sparked a row by speaking out against trans activism.
Watson posted on social media at the time: "Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are."
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In an interview last week, Watson said her previous relationship with Rowling meant she was still able to "treasure Jo".
She said: "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.
"There's just no world in which I could ever cancel her out, or cancel that out, for anything. It has to remain true. It is true.
"I just don't know what else to do other than hold these two seemingly incompatible things together at the same time and just hope maybe they will one day resolve or co-join themselves, and maybe accept that they never will, but that they can both still be true."
Watson, who is studying at the University of Oxford, added: “I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible.”
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