Emma Watson works overtime not to talk about J.K. Rowling. In the past when the Harry Potter author has gone on one of her tears about trans people, the actress has posted her support for trans people rather than commenting directly. On June 10, 2020, Watson tweeted, “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.” Her tweet came less than a day after Rowling published a long blog post about why she had chosen to speak up about her belief in biological sex over gender identity. (Watson later shared a Rebecca Solnit essay that counters Rowling’s points about cis women being “threatened” by trans women.) Occasionally, Watson has articulated her support for trans people without Rowling saying anything: In 2018, she posted a photo of herself in a “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” T-shirt, just because.
Not until her appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast on September 24 did Watson comment on Rowling directly. Earlier this year, the author tweeted that Watson and her co-stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, “ruin” the Harry Potter movies for her, likely because all three have defended trans rights in the years since Rowling started to fixate on the issue in late 2019. Watson explained to Shetty the difficult position she’s in: She both remembers Rowling’s kindness as a child and struggles to reckon with Rowling’s ongoing crusade. “I guess where I’ve landed is it’s not so much what we say or what we believe but very often how we say it that’s really important,” she specified, which is to say, Rowling has been increasingly confrontational and harsh, rather than polite or demure, in her transphobia. It was a charitable position to take — one that alienated a lot of listeners — in part because it ignored the pain of trans people. Watson’s comments also ignore that Rowling isn’t just saying stuff about trans people; she’s actively influencing legislation. Watson went on to say that part of what has felt frustrating about her relationship with Rowling is that a “conversation was never made possible”: “I just don’t want to say anything that continues to weaponize a really toxic debate.”
Watson might have tried to deescalate whatever has been going on between her and Rowling, but on September 29, the author ignored any attempt to take the high road. Rather than grappling with this in private, she posted a long tweet on Watson’s “ignorance.” Rowling, like Watson, believes the other woman has the right to think or believe or say whatever she wants; however, she accuses Watson of taking the first shot at the BAFTAs (where Watson said she’s here for “all the witches, bar one” — maybe she was talking about Liz Truss? Just kidding). Per Rowling, Watson “asked someone to pass on a handwritten note that contained the single sentence ‘I’m so sorry for what you’re going through’” after the BAFTA moment. “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,” Rowling provided.
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The author went on to explain that Watson’s privilege — in part because she is an actress — is such that she would not know what it’s like to feel in danger in a “mixed-sex changing room” or find herself in a “state-run rape crisis center that refuses to guarantee an all-female service.” Rowling is not wrong in that Watson may likely never experience these things, but as she states earlier in the tweet, Watson has every right to believe and argue as she likes whether or not she bases that on lived experience. Rowling also writes about Watson as though she has not experienced any hardship, but like many former child stars, Watson has experienced degrees of violence: stalkers, threats, upskirt shots from the night she turned 18. That Watson hasn’t used these moments of victimhood to become reactionary is part of what seems to anger Rowling.
The author certainly doesn’t come out of this situation looking good: When Watson offered an olive branch, Rowling set the whole thing on fire. her total rejection, however, only showcases how misguided the actress’s half-hearted attempt at reconciliation was in the first place. Rather than reassert her commitment to the trans movement or support for trans people, Watson tried to adopt a political mentality that assumes the best in Rowling. What Watson might have missed in the past few years since directly responding to Rowling’s comments in 2020 is the extent to which the author does not want an olive branch. She is on X every single day beefing with everyone — trans people, journalists, and former Harry Potter fans — about this stuff. She doesn’t want to have a conversation. She wants to be the conversation, and no gracious attempt to move on was going to faze her. For all Watson’s tact, she will go home empty-handed. There still won’t be a conversation between her and Rowling any time soon.
