J.K. Rowling has shared the contents of a handwritten note sent to her by Emma Watson, which ultimately led to the downfall of their friendship.
In recent years, the author who penned Harry Potter, has received widespread criticism after she started sharing increasingly anti-transgender opinions on social media.
Over the years, Rowling engaged with many posts suggesting that trans women are not women, once liking a post which compared transgender women to ‘men in dresses,’ though she claimed this to be an ‘accident.’
However, her views gender became crystal clear in June 2020, when she launched into a furious rant on X over an article using the phrase ‘people who menstruate.’
“I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out,” she tweeted. “Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Harry Potter cast speak out against J.K. Rowling
Since then, the 60-year-old has regularly continued to share her views on gender issues, prompting the majority of the Harry Potter cast to speak out against her, including Daniel Radcliffe who said: “Transgender women are women.”
“Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I,” he added in a statement.
Emma Watson, meanwhile, said ‘trans people are who say they say they are,’ and deserve to live without being ‘constantly questioned.’
It wasn’t until last year that Rowling finally made the decision to respond to the comments made by the cast, and it was one alleged exchange between her and Watson that encouraged her to publicly speak out.
“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,” she wrote on X.
“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.”
J.K. Rowling responds to casts’ criticisms
Rowling went on to single out Watson and Radcliffe in particular, stating they have ‘made it clear’ that working together all those years ago gives them the ‘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,” she added.
The author went on to say that having known the actors since they were 10 years old, it’s ‘hard to shake a certain protectiveness,’ as she ‘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.’
“Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is,” Rowling 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.”
She continued: “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?”
The note that changed J.K. Rowling and Emma Watson’s relationship
Alongside the post, Rowling shared a clip, in which anti-trans campaigner Fiona McAnena referred to a speech, where Watson said she was ‘here for all witches,’ in what many people believed to be a dig at the Harry Potter creator.
Describing the moment as a ‘turning point,’ she said Watson asked someone to pass her a handwritten note, containing a single sentence.
“I’m so sorry for what you’re going through,” the note read, though she noted that the actress had her phone number and was more than capable of contacting her through other means.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
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The post J.K. Rowling Shares Handwritten Note Emma Watson Sent Her Containing One Sentence That Changed Relationship Forever appeared first on It’s Gone Viral.
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