J.K. Rowling slams Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for supporting transgender rights

Rowling in a tweet wrote that the former "Harry Potter" actors could "save their apologies"

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published April 12, 2024 12:08PM (EDT)

J.K Rowling attends the UK Premiere of "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald" at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 13, 2018 in London, England. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)
J.K Rowling attends the UK Premiere of "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald" at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 13, 2018 in London, England. (Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)

J.K. Rowling is hitting out at former "Harry Potter" actors Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for previously supporting transgender rights. 

The fantasy series creator, who frequently posts her views about transgender identity on social media, responded to an X user who wrote, "Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them" for demonstrating solidarity with transgender people several years prior.

"Not safe, I'm afraid," Rowling tweeted in reply. "Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces."

The support in question stems from a response to a June 2020 essay Rowling published criticizing trans people. "I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode 'woman' as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it," she wrote, per PEOPLE.

Shortly thereafter, Radcliffe published a short essay of his own for the "Trevor Project." 

"Transgender women are women," the actor wrote, in part. "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." 

Watson elected to speak out on social media in a series of tweets, writing, "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."