Emma Watson talks J.K. Rowling rift, says she's sad a conversation was "never made possible"

Watson calls the lack of communication with the Harry Potter author "the thing I’m most upset about."

By William Hughes  |  September 24, 2025 | 7:50pm
Film News Emma Watson
Emma Watson talks J.K. Rowling rift, says she's sad a conversation was

The Harry Potter cast battle lines got drawn pretty quickly once J.K. Rowling started getting seriously into transphobic rhetoric circa mid-2000, divided between those franchise actors, like Ralph Fiennes, who voiced support for the series creator as she got ever-more-vocal about attacking trans rights and identity, and those who dared dissent. Notably, the latter camp included the series’ three stars, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, who all expressed their vocal support for trans folk early and often.

Rowling did not take this well, to put it lightly, making public comments suggesting she would never forgive the young performers for their statements—pretty much all of which started and stopped with quotes like Watson’s “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned”—and implying on social media that their presence in the Harry Potter film franchise “ruins” those movies for her.

Watson has now addressed the rift, with Variety reporting that the performer, who’s been on hiatus from acting since appearing in Little Women back in 2019, popped up on a podcast this week in which Rowling’s comments were addressed. Appearing on On Purpose With Jay Shetty, Watson expressed her sadness at the idea of Rowling—who she has, obviously, known since she was 11—completely shutting the door on any possible conversations:

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 had personal experiences with. I will never believe that one negates the other and that my experience of that person, I don’t get to keep and cherish. To come back to our earlier thing—I just don’t think these things are either or. I think 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. I think the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible.”

Rowling has, of course, stayed very busy in the years since she and the Potter kids broke up: She’s been very publicly funneling parts of her vast wealth into supporting legal challenges to trans rights in the U.K., while also lending her name and support to the new Harry Potter TV series in the works at HBO.

 
Join the discussion...