J.K. Rowling threw the latest punch in the long-running showdown between her and the Harry Potter stars.
The author acknowledged Emma Watson’s viral interview, in which the 35-year-old actress addressed her fractured relationship with Rowling.
Their feud was the result of Rowling publicly making transphobic statements, leaving fans and stars divided.
Highlights
- J.K. Rowling had a snarky response to Emma Watson‘s recent interview.
- The British actress had addressed her long-standing feud with Rowling while speaking to Jay Shetty.
- Rowling later shared a spoof of a video that mocked Watson's remarks.
- She also wrote cryptic messages online following the interview.
J.K. Rowling threw another punch in the long-running showdown between her and the Harry Potter stars
Image credits: jk_rowling/X
Watson, who has been on a yearslong hiatus from acting, sat opposite Jay Shetty for a rare interview for his podcast On Purpose With Jay Shetty earlier this month.
She claimed she can continue to “cherish” the author for their past experiences, despite Rowling previously saying she could “never forgive” the actress.
Image credits: Jay Shetty Podcast/YouTube
The interview triggered widespread chatter online, including one parody video by Comedian IntelLady that caught even Rowling’s attention.
The comedian took the effort to spoof Watson’s viral interview with an exaggerated, satirical version of the actress’s remarks.
“I will always hold space for her and so much love in my heart for her, and I would hope that she felt the same way about me,” the comedian said in the parody.
“But also I stand shoulder to shoulder with those who would wish harm on her, hate her and would wish the absolute worst for her in her life,” she continued.
“But those seemingly incompatible, those two things can exist at the same time, which is why I love this incredibly diverse world that we live in…”
The author re-shared a parody video that mocked Emma Watson's interview with Jay Shetty
Image credits: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
More than a million viewers saw the spoof, including Rowling.
The author seemed happy to share the video with her own followers alongside a snarky comment.
“I'm already missing @intel_lady's Angela Rayner, but I'm here for ALL the spoofs,” the author said in her tweet.
Image credits: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
In a tweet shortly after Watson's interview, Rowling tweeted a message possibly directed at the stars who denounced her when the controversy first blew up.
“A little reminder for anyone who may be regretting their very public sprint to the front of the mob and is now trying to discreetly shove their pitchfork out of sight,” she said, re-sharing a lengthy essay showing support for a UK ruling that said the terms “woman” and “s**” refer strictly to a biological woman and biological s**.
Rowling also shared a cryptic message after Watson addressed their long-standing feud
Image credits: jk_rowling
Rowling also shared a cryptic message while re-sharing a post by The Critic magazine, which said: “Emma’s passing admission that she still feels love for the woman who created her most famous role was enough to get her attacked by the #BeKind lot.”
The author re-shared the magazine’s tweet and said, “It’s quite extraordinary how many people think a crocodile will be so grateful you’ve fed it red meat for years that it’ll let you stroll away unharmed when you decide you want a break.”
Image credits: Jon Furniss/WireImage
During her interview with Jay Shetty, Watson spoke about how she could never “cancel” Rowling.
“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 said.
The British star said she could never “cancel” Rowling and expressed gratitude to the author
Image credits: Jay Shetty Podcast/YouTube
“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.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower actress also expressed gratitude to her for changing the trajectory of her life.
Image credits: jk_rowling
Watson played the role of Hermione Granger in all eight of the Harry Potter franchise’s movies, which were based on Rowling’s books.
Reflecting on Rowling’s impact on her life, Watson said, “Just as a young woman, for her to have written that character, created that world, given me an opportunity, which, to be honest, barely exists in the history of English literature.”
“I can love her, I can know she loved me, I can be grateful to her,” Watson said
Image credits: Dave Benett/Getty Images
Watson previously showed support for the transgender community in light of Rowling’s public anti-trans stance in 2020.
At the time, the author sparked outrage after commenting on an op-ed piece that mentioned “people who menstruate,” which is a gender-inclusive term, used to refer to individuals who experience menstruation, including cisgender women, transgender men, non-binary people, and intersex individuals who have periods.
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” Rowling tweeted while re-sharing the article.
Rowling said she wouldn't forgive the Harry Potter stars because they “cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights”
Image credits: Justin Goff Photos/Getty Images
Watson and co-star Daniel Radcliffe released statements in support of the transgender community following the outrage.
“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,” Watson wrote on social media at the time.
Last year, the author appeared to suggest she wouldn’t accept an apology from Watson or her co-star Daniel Radcliffe, who also released a similar statement supporting the transgender community.
“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.
Radcliffe responded to Rowling’s comments in an interview with The Atlantic last year.
“It makes me really sad, ultimately, because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic,” he said.
“Jo [Joanne Rowling], obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person,” he added. “But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.”
He also said he would “continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ+ people.”
“Not JK exposing her lack of maturity and class with that response,” one commented online, while another asked, “Is she 12?”
