Warning: This article contains discussion of LGBTQ+ discrimination which some readers may find upsetting
JK Rowling has directly named Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe and 'finally' revealed how she feels about them in a lengthy statement, coming off the back off a recent podcast interview Watson was featured on.
For those Harry Potter fans not in the loop, last week (24 September), Watson - who played Hermione Granger in the beloved film franchise, which was based on the books written by JK Rowling - revealed why she could 'never cancel' Rowling after the author seemingly told her to 'save her apologies'.
The 60-year-old author has a long history of making anti-transgender comments, as well as supporting others with transphobic views, with 35-year-old Watson publicly opposing such viewpoints.
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In the bombshell interview with Jay Shetty, Watson shared: "I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I had personal experiences with."
JK Rowling's response
This particular remark was picked up by many news outlets across the world and soon made it into a discussion on a news channel, which Rowling later shared a clip of on social media.
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The lengthy statement, posted to Twitter earlier this morning (29 September) along with the clip, begins: "I'm seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.
"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."
Rowling states that Watson and her co-stars 'have every right to embrace gender identity ideology', adding: "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. Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created."
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'Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames'
The author carried on: "When you've known people since they were ten years old, it's hard to shake a certain protectiveness. 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.
"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.
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"The television presenter in the attached clip highlights Emma's 'all witches' speech, and in truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself.
"Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me, which contained the single sentence 'I'm so sorry for what you're going through' (she has my phone number). 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."
'She's ignorant of how ignorant she is'
Continuing her statement, Rowling hit out that Emma has 'never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame', adding that she has so little experience of real life she's 'ignorant of how ignorant she is'.
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"She'll never need a homeless shelter. She's never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I'd be astounded if she's been in a high street changing room since childhood," Rowling went on, "Her 'public bathroom' is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door.
"Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who's identified into the women's prison?"
'Greatest irony'
Sharing that she 'wasn't a multimillionaire at fourteen', Rowling recalled that she '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," she claimed, before declaring the 'greatest irony' of the situation.
"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," Rowling rounded off.
She 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."
Tyla has reached out to Emma Watson's representatives for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Topics: JK Rowling, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter, TV And Film
Rhiannon Ingle