Emma Watson says she remains grateful to Harry Potter author JK Rowling despite rift
Emma Watson says she is grateful to Harry Potter author JK Rowling despite the ongoing rift between the pair over their opposing views on gender identity.
Watson publicly denounced Rowling’s positions on transgender issues in 2020, leading to the breakdown of their relationship.
Appearing on podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Watson said “there’s just no world” in which she could cancel the author out.
The 35-year-old said she can love and “be grateful” to Rowling while disagreeing with her.
“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 went on to voice her regret the two had never spoken about the falling out, telling Shetty, “the thing I’m most upset about is that a conversation was never made possible”.
But Rowling seemed to reject the possibility of a reconciliation in a veiled tweet on September 26.
A little reminder for anyone who may be regretting their very public sprint to the front of the mob and is now trying to discreetly shove their pitchfork out of sight. https://t.co/pt6SOguDUI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 25, 2025
She has been at the centre of controversy for several years after she began to publicly engage in “feminist” gender critical discourse, which many trans activists have deemed trans erasure.
Rowling was first accused of transphobia in December 2019, when she expressed her support for Maya Forstater, who lost her job for tweeting “men cannot change into women”, the Guardian reports.
The following year, the author wrote an essay detailing five reasons she was “worried about the new trans activism”, criticising the erasure of “the concept of sex” and trans people’s presence in single sex spaces.
Labelled a TERF – a trans-exclusionary radical feminist – the backlash from LGBTQ advocates was swift.
Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, the hit film series’ main actors, all denounced Rowling’s comments and reiterated their support for transgender rights.
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.
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020
The trio were close with Rowling through the years they starred in the franchise but distanced themselves from the 60-year-old after the controversy.
Rowling has continued to espouse critical views on gender-affirming policies, and as recently as March this year appeared to make a dig at the former Harry Potter actors.
Responding to an X post about actors who “instantly” ruin films, Rowling replied: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Watson discussed how working on the film series shaped her expectations of on-set dynamics.
“I came to work looking for friendship, and that was a very painful experience for me”, she said.
“Outside of Harry Potter and in Hollywood, like bone breaking, really painful, um, because most people don’t come to those environments looking for friendships.”
Her last film role was in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of Little Women.