JK Rowling has accused Emma Watson of “pouring petrol on the flames” when the Harry Potter writer faced death threats over her views on trans rights.
Rowling turned on the actress, 35, in a lengthy message posted on social media on Monday.
It came after the Harry Potter star said she “loves” the children’s author, 60, and “refuses to cancel her” in a recent podcast - despite not agreeing with her views on trans people.
Rowling previously said she won’t “forgive” the fantasy film franchise’s child stars - Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe - for criticising her views.
And on Monday, the writer doubled down on her opinion of Watson, claiming she was “ignorant”, led a “cushioned life”, and had “poured petrol” on the online hate towards her.
Rowling quoted a video from Sex Matters, which discussed Watson and Rowling’s relationship on GB News, and wrote on X: “I’m seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.
“I’m not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should hold these days.”
I'm seeing quite a bit of comment about this, so I want to make a couple of points.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 29, 2025
I'm not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created. The idea is as ludicrous as me checking with the boss I had when I was twenty-one for what opinions I should… https://t.co/c0pz19P7jc
“Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology. Such beliefs are legally protected, and I wouldn’t want to see any of them threatened with loss of work, or violence, or death, because of them,” Rowling went on.
“However, Emma and Dan [Radcliffe] 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.
“Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created. When you’ve known people since they were ten years old it’s hard to shake a certain protectiveness.”
She added that, “until quite recently, I hadn’t managed to throw off the memory of children who needed to be gently coaxed through their dialogue in a big scary film studio”.
“For the past few years, I’ve repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically, most notably on the Witch Trials of JK Rowling. Ironically, I told the producers that I didn’t want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said,” Rowling continued.
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♬ original sound - Jay Shetty
Referring to the video she shared, she mentioned Watson’s 2022 comment that she was “here for all of the witches”. Rowling said this was a “turning point” for her in how she viewed The Bling Ring actress.
“The television presenter in the attached clip highlights Emma’s ‘all witches’ speech, and in truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself,” she recalled.
“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, at a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family’s safety.
“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.”
She added: “Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life cushioned 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. Her ‘public bathroom’ is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door.
“Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who’s identified into the women’s prison?
“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.”
She divulged: “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.
“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.”
JK Rowling has previously been accused of being transphobic for her views on gender identity and for saying trans women should not be allowed into female-only spaces.
In 2024 the writer challenged police in Scotland, where she lives, to arrest her under a new hate crime law after she described several trans women as men. Police took no action.
She has denied being transphobic, saying she respects “every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them”.
In an interview last week, Watson said she “cherishes” and “treasures” Rowling and understands that she held an important role in her early life - while adding that she strongly supports trans rights.
“It's my deepest wish that I hope people who don't agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don't necessarily share the same opinion with,” she said on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.
The Little Women star added: “Think the thing I'm most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible.”
The Standard has approached Watson’s representatives for comment.
