Actress Emma Watson, who skyrocketted to fame after being cast in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, has made it clear that she disagrees with the famed British writer over her stance that men are unequivocally not women. Rowling has kept quiet on Watson, and also on co-star Danielle Radcliffe, who shares Watson's views.
On Monday, that silence came to an end as Rowling spoke up against Watson's comments, citing the young actress' privilege for her "ignorant" views. Rowling has been a staunch, brave voice in the fight for women's rights amid the encroachment of men who claim to be women. Watson has advocated for feminism in part through talking openly about masturbation.
In a recent interview with Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, Watson claimed that she didn't want to cancel Rowling. "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," Watson said.
Rowling shared commentary about Watson where pundits speculated that Watson's recent comments on Rowling may indicate that she's had a bit of a change of heart on the subject—or that she's just hungry to be included in any of Rowling's upcoming projects.
Rowling said that "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."
She said she's felt a bit of "protectiveness" toward them, and that "until quite recently," she hadn't been able to shake that feeling. That change came when, amid the death threats leveled at Rowling, Watson had further taken aim at Rowling and then had the nerve to get someone to pass her a note saying "I'm sorry for what you're going through." Of course, Watson had Rowling's number.
"Like other people who've never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame," Rowling wrote, "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?"
Rowling shared her own background, saying "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."
Watson offered support for Mermaids, a UK LGBTQ charity that has been scandalized when a trustee was forced to resign over links to a pro-pedophile group. Watson timed remarks made on social media for just after Rowling came to the defense of women and girls. Radcliffe made similar remarks.
