JK Rowling has directly addressed her criticism from Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, suggesting she won’t “forgive” them for it.
The author, who had a close relationship with the pair when they starred in the film adaptations of her wizarding world series, faced a backlash from several of the franchise’s stars when she shared controversial remarks about the trans community in June 2020.
At the time, Radcliffe, who played lead character Harry Potter, wrote an essay for The Trevor Project as a way of showing support for the trans community, and apologised “for the pain” Rowling’s comments have caused the Harry Potter fandom.
Meanwhile, Watson wrote amid the controversy: “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” and appeared to make a dig at Rowling at the Baftas in 2022.
After host Rebel Wilson said: “Here to present the next award is Emma Watson. She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch,” Watson replied, after walking onto the stage: “I’m here for all the witches.
”On Twitter/X, one commenter, whose account name include the phrase “FarRightHooligan”, wrote to Rowling: “Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them.”
Rowling responded: “Not safe, I’m afraid. 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 traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”
Her comment comes after it was reported the author could be investigated by police for misgendering trans people under Scotland’s new hate crime law.
The SNP party’s community safety minister, Siobhian Brown, had previously claimed that misgendering – for example, using the pronoun “he” when talking about a trans woman – would not count as a hate crime, but she has now said it would be a police decision.
However, Rowling, who has frequently argued online that trans women are not women, vowed to continue “calling a man a man” despite what she called the “ludicrous law”, and said she would not delete social media posts that could breach hate crime laws.
The author has long been a fierce critic of the Scottish Government’s gender reform plans, arguing the proposals infringe on women’s safety.
She has previously stated that she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns.
Ultimately, police said that Rowling’s comments about new hate crime laws “are not assessed to be criminal” and confirmed no further action would be taken.
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