J.K. Rowling wants you to know that “Harry Potter” actors “have every right” to disagree with her about trans rights — but she’s taking the kid gloves off.
The author took to social media Monday to share a lengthy post slamming Emma Watson, who on a podcast recently addressed her own feelings about their rift. Watson was among the Wizarding World actors who spoke out in support of the transgender community amid the firestorm around Rowling’s numerous anti-trans comments in 2020.
“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,” Rowling wrote on X as she alluded to the alleged harm to women’s rights Watson has caused with her support of the trans community. “Her ‘public bathroom’ is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door,” the author added. “Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool?”
Rowling has long argued that only those who are assigned female at birth should be recognized as women. Rather than acknowledging trans people and identity, Rowling referenced only “ideology” and “an activist movement” in her post.
The author specifically called out Watson and fellow “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe for what she sees as their continued public critiques of her anti-trans politics and “assum[ing] the role of de facto spokespeople for the world [Rowling] created.”
Rowling’s lengthy post came in response to Watson saying in a recent episode of “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” that their opposing views on trans rights do not mean she can’t or doesn’t “treasure” Rowling as a person.
“I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish,” Watson said. “I think 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.”
In her X post, Rowling said that when she was receiving threats of violence because of her transphobic comments in the past, Watson wrote her a letter that “contained the single sentence ‘I’m so sorry for what you’re going through’ (she has my phone number)” while speaking out against her publicly. Rowling also noted that Watson’s latest comments come at a time when “full-throated condemnation of [the author] is no longer quite as fashionable as it was,” with anti-trans activists and politicians gaining ground in their attacks on trans rights.
“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,” Rowling said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com ’
