JK Rowling has appeared to take a swipe at Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint on social media.
The 59-year-old author has drawn plenty of backlash over the years for her views on trans rights, which have ostracised her from the former child actors who starred in the blockbuster Wizarding World adaptations, and with whom she once had a close relationship.
Rowling, who once stated she would rather go to jail than refer to a trans person by their preferred pronouns, previously said she would not forgive the actors for criticising her opinions, telling them to “save their apologies” – and she has renewed hostilities with the trio once again on social media.
On Tuesday (18 March), when Rowling was asked: “What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?” she responded: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.”
While the author added laughing-face emojis to indicate humour, the post has been widely interpreted as being aimed at Radcliffe, Watson and Grint.
Rowling first made her stance on transgender women public in December 2019 when she tweeted in support of researcher Maya Forstater, whose job contract at think-tank Centre for Global Development was not renewed due to a series of tweets she had made questioning government plans to allow people to self-identify as another gender.
These initial remarks prompted backlash from fans of the author, who labelled Rowling a “terf” – an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
The author, who has denied being transphobic, went on to post a much-maligned essay about gender identity ideology on her website.
In this essay, she outlined five reasons to be “worried about the new trans activism”, which received condemnation from Radcliffe and Watson, who said: “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.”
Radcliffe was the first of Harry Potter’s lead trio to speak out against Rowling’s views on transgender identities.
“Transgender women are women,” he said in a 2020 statement released by The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention charity for young LGBT+ people. He acknowledged that Rowling is “unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken”, but said he felt “compelled to say something at this moment”.
He added: “The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that.”
In 2024, the actor revealed he had not spoken to the author in years.
“It makes me really sad, ultimately,” he said, “because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic.”
His 2020 statement was backed by Grint and Watson.
Hermione star Watson also cryptically addressed the furore at the Baftas in 2022. That year’s host, Rebel Wilson, introduced the actor to the stage, stating: “Here to present the next award is Emma Watson. She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.”
