Emma Watson has addressed the ongoing tension between herself, her Harry Potter co-stars, and JK Rowling.
Rowling has been vocal about her views on certain topics, particularly concerning the transgender community, which she has discussed several times.
In one of her recent comments, the British author commended the UK Supreme Court’s decision on defining a woman by her biological sex. According to a report by BBC News, this ruling means that an individual not born biologically female cannot gain legal protection under the Equality Act 2010 by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate.
The controversy involving Rowling began back in 2020 when she mocked an article that used the term ‘people who menstruate’.
This sparked significant backlash online, with Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint voicing their support for the transgender community.
Rowling later remarked that she would ‘never forgive’ the actors for aligning themselves with a movement she believes threatens women’s rights.
Now, five years after this fallout, Watson has revisited the topic. She openly stated that her beliefs differ from Rowling’s, yet that doesn’t diminish her appreciation for her.
“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 shared on Jay Shetty’s podcast.
She continued: “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.”
In the same podcast, Watson also addressed her six-month driving ban.
She mentioned how it became global news, expressing that she felt her ‘shame [was] everywhere’.
Watson suggested that her film career and lack of driving experience contributed to her ban.
“When you work on movies, I don’t know if people know this, but they literally will not insure you to drive yourself to work. I’ve asked so many times,” Watson explained.
“You have to be driven, it’s not a choice. Especially because they need you there, down to the minute basically depending on what they have going on.”
The actress from Little Women added: “So I went from basically only driving myself on weekends or during a holiday, to then, when I became a student, driving myself all the time and I did not have the experience, or skills clearly, which I now will and do.”