J.K. Rowling vs. Emma Watson feud: A complete timeline of the rift between the Harry Potter collaborators, explored

J.K. Rowling and Emma Watson are stuck on opposite sides of a cultural firestorm over trans rights. This all blew up back in 2020 when Rowling dropped a bunch of “gender-critical” tweets and comments, and the internet did not take it well.

Emma Watson and other members of the Harry Potter cast reacted by issuing firm public support of trans people, which saw the emergence of a heated and ongoing rift between the author and actors who brought her creation to life.

This dispute has been waged in a sequence of interviews, official statements, and public debates that have lasted several years but reflect broader cultural debates about gender identity and allyship.

Despite a previous close professional connection, the two have consistently and publicly had divergent stances: Rowling standing up in defense of her criticism of select trans activism as a question of women's rights and lived experience, and Emma Watson promoting inclusion and trans rights.

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J.K. Rowling vs. Emma Watson feud: A complete timeline of the rift

The origin of the beef dates all the way back to the 2018 incident when J.K. Rowling liked a tweet that labeled transgender women "men in dresses." This resulted in a heated outcry and transphobia allegations against Rowling. However, her spokesperson stated that this happened by accident as Rowling was trying to take a screenshot of it but ended up liking it instead, referring to it as a "middle-aged moment."

Rowling would later come forward to say that she "absent-mindedly" liked it as a curiosity about gender identity and transgender.

This 2018 incident sparked a wave of public uproar about Rowling's positions on transgender matters. After this came additional comments and acts that stoked controversy, such as when Rowling expressed support in 2019 for Maya Forstater, a woman fired because of gender-critical beliefs of her own. Rowling's objections centered mainly on a defense of the importance of biological sex, as well as on voicing concern about women's protection in same-sex spaces.

In June 2020, J.K. Rowling published a set of tweets and later a long essay on her website to defend gender-critical views. Rowling explained that she was worried about "the new trans activism" and that she has witnessed a "huge explosion" among young women to transition and an increasing number of detransitioners.

As published on her website, jkrowling.com. Rowling argued that some of this movement undermines the protection and rights of women and again expressed worries about unisex areas such as bathrooms and changing facilities that can be accessible to anyone who "believes or feels he's a woman." Rowling framed her view through what she, as a survivor of domestic abuse and assault, experienced and explained that this made her understanding of women who are worried about such spaces.

Rowling also denounced language that she found to be dehumanizing, including women being called "menstruators" rather than "women," and said that the gender-based redefinition of legal sex would harm the idea of women as a political and biological category. Even so, Rowling confirmed that she believes that she has empathy and support for trans people who have been victims of abuse and violence.

This resulted in heated public refutations from the Harry Potter actors, such as Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint, all of whom publicly advocated for unequivocal support of transgender rights and inclusivity. These contrasting viewpoints foreshadowed a splintering of the once-communal Harry Potter community.

By 2024, tensions between J.K. Rowling and the lead Harry Potter actors escalated when Rowling confirmed that she would "never forgive" Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint for standing against her beliefs regarding trans rights. She blamed the actors for joining a movement she believes is a threat to "women's hard-won rights," particularly criticizing their show of support in the direction of transition among children.

Rowling termed their resistance a betrayal, considering their close professional past and disassociating from them publicly. For example, when it came to the "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" special in 2022, Rowling only featured through archival footage and did not feature along with the cast that appeared as a group.

This was interpreted by many as a representation of the deepening rift, as it spotlighted the division between Rowling and the actors who have openly advocated for trans rights in direct contrast to her gender-critical positions.

During the 2022 BAFTA Awards, the controversy heightened between J.K. Rowling and Emma Watson. Rebel Wilson hosted and greeted Emma Watson on stage by saying:

“She's proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she's a witch.”

To that, Emma Watson responded by saying, "I'm here for ALL the witches," which many interpreted as a demonstration of support for the trans community and a veiled attack on Rowling's gender-critical positions.

During a 2025 interview on Jay Shetty's podcast, Emma Watson expressed grief that she and Rowling never had a quiet conversation to resolve their highly publicized conflict about transgender rights. Watson made it clear that what most disturbed her about the situation was the lost potential to close their difference personally rather than public confrontation. She emphasized that their difference in opinions doesn't wipe away the appreciation for the individual Rowling represented to her while working for years on Harry Potter.

Watson made a fine distinction that it is indeed possible to love and to respect a person even if you disagree profoundly with their beliefs. She stated:

"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."

J.K. Rowling refuted Emma Watson's podcast comments sharply by referring to her as "ignorant" on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

“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. 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 also revealed that after the 2022 BAFTA Awards, wherein Emma Watson made a supportive comment that many perceived as a jab against Rowling, Emma Watson wrote to her a handwritten letter that only contained "I'm sorry for what you're going through," despite publicly disagreeing with Rowling.

In 2024 and 2025, J.K. Rowling donated to anti-transgender rights campaigns most substantially by donating £70,000 (around $88,000-$93,000) in grants to For Women Scotland, an association that legally challenged Scotland's Gender Recognition Act. This legislation would have simplified how transgender individuals could change their gender of record.

Additionally, Rowling publicly celebrated the UK Supreme Court's ruling on April 16, 2025, which held that the Equality Act 2010 defines a woman based only on biological sex and not gender identity. This decision means that transgender women who have gender recognition certificates will no longer be identified as women under this act, a move that has been panned as having the potential to create an environment of discriminatory practice in domains such as employment.

Rowling announced the verdict on social media through victory-themed updates, including a photograph of herself sunning herself on a beach, enjoying a glass of wine and a cigar and which she captioned "I love it when a plan comes together", a phrase referencing her support for what critics dubbed a "TERF VE Day", a controversial allusion to Victory in Europe Day.

In addition to those legally contentious, Rowling in 2022 also opened Beira's Place, a r*pe crisis center that does not include trans women, an action defended legally under the Equality Act as a legitimate and proportionate measure but widely criticized as trans-exclusionary.

Rowling has further publicly defied Scotland's Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 and deliberately misgendered trans women on social media platforms to challenge this legislation, risking but obtaining no prosecution.