J.K. Rowling Responds To Emma Watson's Recent Comments About Their Relationship
J.K. Rowling has hit back at Emma Watson following the actress' recent comments about their relationship, which has been strained by differing views on transgender rights. In a recent interview, Watson, who portrayed Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, stated, "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 also expressed that she would always treasure her past experiences with Rowling, emphasizing, "I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish."
However, Rowling did not share Watson's sentiment. In a statement posted on X, the author sharply criticized Watson's opinion. "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. She added, "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."
This latest exchange between the two former friends follows a longstanding public rift. Back in 2020, both Watson and her Harry Potter co-stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, spoke out against Rowling’s comments on transgender rights. At the time, Watson shared a message of support for trans people, saying, “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.” This public disagreement led to a rupture in their relationship, and since then, Watson has expressed her frustration at the lack of dialogue between them.
Despite this, Watson has continued to emphasize that she holds no ill will towards Rowling. "There's just no world in which I could ever cancel her out, or cancel that out, for anything.” But with Rowling’s new comments, it’s clear that any hopes of a resolution are now more uncertain than ever.
