There was a time, not all that long ago, when JK Rowling was arguably the most beloved author of her generation.
These days, when Rowling’s name trends on social media, the conversation usually has little to do with her books and everything to do with her inflammatory comments on social justice issues.
That’s certainly the case this week, as the Harry Potter scribe is once again locking horns with an actor who gained fame from portraying one of her characters.
The latest row between Rowling and a Hogwarts alum finds the firebrand author lashing out at Emma Watson, who portrayed Hermione Granger in all eight Potter films.
Emma Watson gently criticizes JK Rowling’s anti-LGBT stance
In case you’ve somehow missed it, Rowling has been lashing out at the trans community for several years now.
Numerous celebrities have called her out as a bigot, which is why it’s so surprising that Rowling is fuming over Watson’s comparatively mild remarks on the subject.
“I guess where I’ve landed it, it’s not so much what we say or what we believe, it’s how we say it. I just see this world right now where we seem to giving permission to this throwing out of people, or that people are disposable. I will always think that’s wrong,” Watson said on a recent episode of Jay Shetty’s podcast.
“I just believe that no one is disposable,” she continued.
“And everyone as far as possible, whatever the conversation is, should and can be treated with, at the very least, dignity and respect.”
“I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible,” Watson explained when Shetty asked if she would be “open for that dialogue” with Rowling.
Watson added that she does not “want to say anything that continues to weaponize a really toxic debate and conversation, which is why I don’t comment or continue to comment.”
“There is just no world in which I could ever cancel her out for, or cancel that out, for anything. It has to remain true — it is true,” Watson concluded.
JK Rowling lashes out at Emma Watson following podcast comments
“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,” Rowling posted on X on Monday in response to Watson’s criticism.
“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,” she continued, adding:
“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.”
From there, Rowling alleged that Watson and her co-stars have been made “ignorant” by their privileged lives, writing:
“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.”
Watson has yet to respond to Rowling’s latest provocation. And she may choose not to.
But if she does, she might want to begin by pointing out the irony of Rowling calling anyone else ignorant.