Paul GlynnCulture reporter and
Ian YoungsCulture reporter
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JK Rowling and Emma Watson pictured together in 2009
JK Rowling has sent a stinging response to Emma Watson after the Harry Potter actress recently spoke about their relationship and a public disagreement over the issue of gender identity.
Last week, Watson said she still loves Rowling and refuses to “cancel her out” despite their differences on the subject.
But on Monday, the author responded by saying her own feelings towards her “former friend” had soured after she says Watson publicly poured “petrol on the flames” of the debate at the peak of threats against her.
Rowling wrote on X: “Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is.”
Watson, 35, played Hermione Granger in the eight films based on Rowling’s books between 2001 and 2011.
She and Daniel Radcliffe were among the stars who distanced themselves from Rowling when the author sparked a row by speaking out against trans activism, which Rowling said had eroded the concept of biological sex.
The writer was accused of being transphobic, which she denied, saying she was worried about the effect on women in single-sex spaces.
In an interview last week, Watson 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.”
‘Turning point’
In her new post on Monday, Rowling wrote: “I’m not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should hold these days.”
She said it had been, however, “hard to shake a certain protectiveness” after knowing someone since they were 10.
“Until quite recently, I hadn’t managed to throw off the memory of children who needed to be gently coaxed through their dialogue in a big scary film studio.”
The author said the “turning point” in her feelings came in 2022 when Watson appeared to aim a subtle dig at Rowling on stage at the Bafta Awards.
Host Rebel Wilson introduced Watson by saying: “She’s proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.” Watson responded that she was “here for ALL of the witches”, which was widely interpreted as a statement of support for the trans community. Many interpreted her as then mouthing “bar one”, although it’s not clear, and she may have actually said “by the way”.
Rowling said that moment had “a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself”, when Watson sent a note, despite having her phone number. The note had a single line saying, “I’m so sorry for what you’re going through”, Rowling said.
“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,” the author said.
“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 went on to suggest that 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 fourteen. I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous,” she added.
“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.”
The writer added that Watson’s recent declaratons of love marked 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”.
Rowling concluded: “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.”
BBC News has approached Watson’s representatives for comment.
‘I can love her, I can know she loved me’
Watson was one of several stars of the Potter films who spoke out against Rowling’s views in 2020, posting 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.”
In last week’s interview, Watson said her previous relationship with Rowling meant she was still able to “treasure Jo”.
The actress also praised Rowling for the “kindness and words of encouragement” she gave when she was growing up, and for the opportunity to play a character like Hermione.
“There’s just no world in which I could ever cancel her out, or cancel that out, for anything,” Watson said. “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.”
