JK Rowling blasts Emma Watson after star breaks silence on their feud as author claims she'll 'never forgive' her and Daniel Radcliffe

JK Rowling has shared a lengthy post about her thoughts on Emma Watson after the Harry Potter star said she 'treasures' the author in spite of their conflicting views.

Watson addressed the controversy between herself and Rowling on a recent episode of Jay Shetty's podcast, after Rowling previously said she would 'never forgive' Watson and her former co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, for having 'cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights' when they spoke out in support of the transgender community.

The actor, who is now 35 years old, told Shetty that while she doesn't share the same views as Rowling, she still has fond feelings for her.

She said: "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."

Watson's remark was picked up by news outlets and made it into a discussion on a news channel, which Rowling later shared a clip of on X, formerly Twitter.

The author posted the clip alongside a lengthy statement in which she said she had seen 'quite a bit of comment' about Watson's interview, so wanted to 'make a couple of points'.

"I'm not owed eternal agreement from any actor who once played a character I created," Rowling began. "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.

"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."

However, Rowling went on to claim that Watson and Radcliffe had 'both made it clear over the last few years that they think [their] former professional association gives them a particular right - nay, obligation - to critique [Rowling] and [her] 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," Rowling said.

"When you've known people since they were ten years old, it's hard to shake a certain protectiveness. 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 made reference to a speech previously made by Watson in which she implied she no longer stood by Rowling, and described it as a 'turning point' for her.

The author claimed Watson had asked someone to pass on a handwritten note which read: "I'm so sorry for what you're going through."

Rowling was allegedly facing death and torture threats at the time, explaining: "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."

The author proceeded to describe Watson as 'ignorant' due to having 'so little experience of real life', and suggested this may impact her understanding of the alleged impacts of the transgender community.

She wrote: "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?"

Rowling continued: "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.

"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."

LADbible Group has reached out to representatives for Watson for comment.