JK Rowling has finally hit back at Emma Watson by accusing her of being ‘ignorant of how ignorant she is’ amid their feud over trans issues.
The Harry Potter author said Ms Watson’s public criticism of her gender critical stance had ‘poured more petrol on the flames’ of the abuse she had suffered.
Ms Rowling also dismissed the actress’s recent claim that she ‘still treasures’ her by accusing her of ‘cosying up to an activist movement which regularly calls for a friend’s assassination’.
In a statement this morning, the feminist campaigner insisted Ms Watson and her co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint had ‘every right to embrace gender identity ideology’.
However, she accused them of exploiting their links to Harry Potter to serve as ‘de facto spokespeople’ for the franchise.
Ms Rowling then focused her fire on Ms Watson by suggesting her views on trans rights were due to her lack of experience of ‘real life’.
She raged: ‘I wasn’t a multimillionaire at fourteen. 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.’
Ms Rowling went on to claim that Ms Watson’s recent claim that she still ‘treasures’ her was a cynical attempt to shift her stance after realising ‘full-throated condemnation of me is not as fashionable as it once was’.
JK Rowling with Emma Watson at the world premiere of Deathly Hallows in 2011
Ms Rowling said she had long felt ‘protective’ over the former child star
Ms Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
Ms Rowling, 60, released her statement this morning on X in response to discussion of Ms Watson’s comments on a podcast last week.
Appearing on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, the actress said her support of trans rights did not mean she no longer felt any affection for the woman who shaped her life.
‘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, that I had personal experiences with,’ she said.
Speaking this morning, Ms Rowling said she felt compelled to issue a response.
‘I’m seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points,’ she 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.
‘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.
‘Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.’
Ms Rowling said she had found it ‘hard to shake’ a feeling of ‘protectiveness’ for people she had first met as child actors.
‘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,’ she wrote.
‘Ironically, I told the producers that I didn’t want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said.’
The author said Ms Watson’s 2022 Baftas speech when she declared she was ‘here for all the witches’ – which was widely interpreted as a dig against her trans views – had led to a change of heart.
‘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.’
In her most personal criticism yet, Ms Rowling suggested the actress had been blinded by her privilege.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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?
‘I wasn’t a multimillionaire at fourteen. 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.
‘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.’
