Emma Watson, who famously portrayed Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise, recently spoke out in an interview with Jay Shetty proclaiming that she wishes to separate J.K. Rowling’s beliefs from her personal experiences with her. In the interview, she said, “I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish to come back to our earlier thing. I just don’t think these things are either or. It’s my deepest wish that 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, alongside her Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, had previously criticized Rowling’s transphobic comments and her advocation for anti-trans policies in the U.K. Based on her more recent comments, it seems that Emma Watson does not want their opposing viewpoints to sour the relationship they had working on the Harry Potter films for over 10 years.
A few days later, Rowling responded to the comments on X, saying that she believes Watson is ignorant and that she does not forgive her for publicly critiquing her anti-trans views a few years back:
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 [Radcliffe] 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.” She went on to say, “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.
You can read J.K. Rowling’s full statement on Emma Watson below.
https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1972600904185483427
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