Emma Watson has finally addressed her explosive feud with J.K. Rowling.
The 35-year-old star said she couldn't “cancel” the author, despite Rowling saying she could “never forgive” the actress.
Netizens criticized her for expressing “neutrality” and “siding with the oppressor.”
Watson also spoke about how she used acting as an escape from her childhood struggles in the rare interview.
Highlights
- Emma Watson was accused of being “spineless coward" after commenting on her feud with J.K. Rowling.
- The actress, 35, said she could never “cancel" the author, who previously stated she would never forgive Watson for disagreeing with her.
- The British star also said there was one thing that left her “most upset” about her fallout with Rowling.
- Elsewhere in the interview, Watson spoke about how she used acting as an “escape” from the painful experiences in her childhood.
Emma Watson has finally addressed her explosive feud with J.K. Rowling in a rare interview
Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Emma Watson sat down for an interview with Jay Shetty for the September 24 podcast episode of On Purpose With Jay Shetty.
The actress addressed her fractured relationship with the Harry Potter author, who conceptualized the iconic character of Hermione Granger. Watson brought the character to life in all eight of the franchise’s movies from 2001 to 2011.
Rowling previously said Watson and her co-star Daniel Radcliffe could save their apologies for disagreeing with her transphobic opinions.
But despite the tensions, Watson said she can continue to “cherish” the author for their past experiences.
Image credits: Jay Shetty Podcast
“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,” Watson told Shetty.
“I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don't get to keep and cherish ... I just don't think these things are either or,” Watson continued.
The British star said there was one thing that left her “most upset” about her fallout with Rowling.
“I think the thing I'm most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible,” she told the podcaster.
The British star said there was one thing that left her “most upset” about her fallout with Rowling
Image credits: jk_rowling/X
The Perks of Being a Wallflower actress recalled Rowling’s “kindness and words of encouragement and steadfastness” when she was young.
Moreover, she credited the author for giving her an opportunity and a character that “barely exists in the history of English literature.”
“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,” she said.
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“I can love her, I can know she loved me, I can be grateful to her, I can know the things that she said are true, and there can be this whole other thing,” she went on to say. “My job feels like to just hold all of it, but the bigger thing is just what she's done will never be taken away from me.”
When Shetty asked if she would be open to having a dialogue with the novelist, she said she is and “always will” be.
“I believe in that. I believe in that completely,” she added.
Watson said she does not “want to say anything that continues to weaponize a really toxic debate and conversation” and that's why she avoids publicly commenting on the situation.
The 35-year-old actress said she couldn't “ever cancel” the author, despite Rowling saying she would “never forgive” her
Image credits: Jay Shetty Podcast
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Elsewhere in the interview, Watson said it was her “deepest wish” that she could still “keep loving” people who disagree with her and that they could love her, too.
“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,” she added. “I just see this world right now where we seem to be giving permission to this throwing out of people, or that people are disposable. I will always think that's wrong.”
The Little Women star believes “no one is disposable.”
“Everyone as far as possible, whatever the conversation is, should and can be treated with, at the very least, dignity and respect,” she added.
Watson also opened up about her watching her parents Chris Watson and Jacqueline Luesby go through a painful divorce when she was 5 years old.
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The actress was born in Paris and grew up there until her parents divorced in 1995. They moved to England following the split, and joined the fictional wizarding world by the age of 9.
The actress said acting was a “way of escaping how painful [her] parents' [divorce]” was.
“It wasn't just the divorce, it was just the continuing situation of living between two different houses and two different lives and two different sets of values,” she said.
“As a child, being aware of ‘Hmm, we don't quite have the support we need here for this, we're not quite, like…’” she continued.
The actress said acting was a “way of escaping how painful [her] parents' [divorce]” was
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“It made me a slightly serious child because I had that consciousness,” she added. “And then when I would go and spend the weekend with my dad, it was a very different set of rules and very different situation.”
Watson said her parents had very different views, but no one gave her “easy answers” when she was a kid.
“It meant I had to form all of my own opinions myself because there was no consensus, and it made me a critical thinker, for sure,” she said.
Watson took a complete hiatus from acting so that she could focus on her education. She started an MA in creative writing at Oxford University in 2023 and then reportedly enrolled in a PhD program.
Image credits: David M. Benett/Getty Images
After Rowling began loudly vocalizing her transphobic views, Watson shared a statement in 2020 and showed support for the transgender community.
“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,” the actress wrote on social media at the time.
Rowling appeared to hold onto her grudge when she suggested she wouldn’t accept an apology from Watson or Radcliffe for supporting transgender individuals.
Rowling has been vocal about her resentment towards Watson and her co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint
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“Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single s** spaces,” Rowling said in a 2024 tweet.
The polarizing author has made other remarks that suggest she has resentment towards Radcliffe, Watson, and co-star Rupert Grint.
In response to a tweet that asked, “What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?”, Rowling replied: “Three guesses.”
Following Watson’s latest comments about her feud with Rowling, netizens criticized her and called her a “spineless coward.”
Image credits: Jay Shetty Podcast
“We gotta go back to publicly condemning horrible people man what the hell happened?” one commented.
Another wrote, “Emma, you don't have to be nice to or about her, she clearly doesn't like you anymore you spineless coward.”
“Neutrality in the face of oppression isn’t compassion, it is siding with the oppressor,” another said. “Saying you can ‘still love’ Rowling while she openly attacks trans people just shows you are insulated from the damage she causes... That’s not grace, it is privilege!!”
“When people say it's just a difference of opinion, they're saying it from a position of privilege where the issues at hand don't directly affect them,” one said.
Others supported her and said, “Love must win. We can still love those with whom we disagree.”
“This is so disappointing to hear from Emma Watson,” one commented online
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