After Emma Watson opens up about rift with JK Rowling, Harry Potter author responds

J.K. Rowling and Emma Watson’s years-long rift has resurfaced after the "Harry Potter" actor addressed their differences in a recent podcast appearance, prompting Rowling to respond online.

The controversy traces back to 2020, when Rowling began sharing views on gender identity that many criticised as transphobic. At the time, Watson publicly opposed her, writing: "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." Rowling later said she would "never forgive" Watson and her co-stars for supporting what she described as "a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights."

Speaking for the first time about the rift on the 'On Purpose with Jay Shetty' podcast, Watson said: "I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I had personal experiences with. I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish."

She added, "I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible." When asked if she remained open to dialogue with Rowling, Watson replied, "Yeah, and I always will. I believe in that. I believe in that completely."

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Rowling did not directly respond to Watson, but instead shared a parody video mocking the actor’s interview. Praising the spoof, she wrote:
"I’m here for all the spoofs." In a separate long post on X, Rowling accused Watson of living "so little experience of real life (that) she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is."

She went on to say: "I'm not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology.” Rowling also claimed Watson had once written her a handwritten note saying, "I’m so sorry for what you’re going through."

The feud stems from Rowling’s June 2020 tweet criticising the phrase "people who menstruate." She wrote at the time: "'People who menstruate'. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"

The backlash that followed drew strong responses from Harry Potter stars, including Daniel Radcliffe and Watson, and the disagreement between Rowling and Watson has remained unresolved ever since.

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