JK Rowling Says Emma Watson Is 'Blind With Privilege' And is 'Cosying Up' To Activists That Want Her Dead

JK Rowling has launched an extraordinary attack on Emma Watson, accusing the Harry Potter star of being 'ignorant of how ignorant she is' and slamming her for 'cosying up' to a movement that 'regularly calls for a friend's assassination.'

In a lengthy statement, Rowling refuted Watson's recent assertion that she 'still treasures' her, claiming the actress had previously poured 'petrol on the flames' of the abuse she has endured for her gender-critical views.

JK Rowling's Rebuke To Potter Stars

Rowling has already declared that she will 'never forgive' Watson or her Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for aligning themselves with a movement aimed at undermining women's hard-won rights. However, she has never before issued such a personal critique of the woman she elevated to prominence.

This morning, Rowling stated that the trio had 'every right to embrace gender identity ideology,' but criticised them for utilising their connections to Harry Potter to behave as 'de facto spokesmen' for the 'world I created.'

She insisted she did not expect them to agree with her on everything. But Rowling added: '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.'

The author's blistering response was triggered by recent comments made by Watson. Speaking on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, the actress said her support for trans rights did not mean she had turned against the woman who shaped her life.

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, that I had personal experiences with.'

The 'Turning Point' That 'Hurt Far More'

Rowling, 60, said she had found it 'hard to shake' a feeling of 'protectiveness' for the actors she first met as children. But she said Watson's declaration in a speech at the 2022 BAFTAs that she was 'here for all the witches'—widely seen as a dig at her views—prompted a change of heart.

The author revealed: 'In truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself.'

Rowling added: 'Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me, which contained the single sentence, ''I'm so sorry for what you're going through'' (she has my phone number). This was back when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak... Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.'

JK Rowling Slams Emma Watson's 'Privilege'

In her most personal criticism yet, Rowling suggested the actress had been blinded by wealth and privilege.

The British author shared: '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... Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool?'

Rowling contrasted their life experiences sharply: '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.'

'I've Finally Decided To Exercise My Right'

The Ickabog author suggested she might never have made her comments if it hadn't been for Watson's decision to speak about her last week. Rowling claimed Watson's assertion of still 'treasuring' her was a disingenuous effort to alter her position now that 'full-throated condemnation of me is not as fashionable as it once was.'

Rowling posted on X: 'The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me—a change of tack I suspect she's adopted because she's noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was—I might never have been this honest.'

She went on: 'Adults can't expect to cosy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love, as though the friend was in fact their mother. Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public, but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.'

Years Of Frosty Relations And 'Basic Life Things'

Relations between Rowling and the former Harry Potter child stars have been frosty for years. The author has been vocal in criticising the push for transgender women to use female-only spaces, while the actors have each commented in opposition to her views on the issue.

The actress recently received a six-month driving ban after speeding. During her podcast appearance, Watson admitted she has found it 'humbling' that she can't do 'basic life things,' explaining that for years she was driven everywhere for work and lacked the experience of driving herself daily when she became a student at Oxford University in 2023.

JK Rowling's explosive statement marks a definitive and deeply personal escalation in her feud with the Harry Potter stars, making it clear she has no intention of reconciling. IBTimes UK has reached out to representatives for Emma Watson for comment on Rowling's latest remarks.

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