Ms Watson then emphasised: ‘I’m here for all the witches’ – an apparent nod to Ms Rowling’s previous statements about transgender issues and her recent criticism of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for saying ‘trans women are women’.
Despite being cheered by some members of the audience after making her comments last night, many viewers on social media criticised Ms Watson for her stance.
One said she had sounded like an ‘ungrateful woke brat’ in choosing to use the BAFTA platform to criticise the woman who forged her early career.
Another wrote: ‘It’s a good job @jk_rowling plucked the fiery, ungrateful @EmmaWatson from obscurity all those years ago, because she has zero acting range, apart from looking down her nose at those who dare to stand up and be counted against the cancelling #woke brigade.’
A third said Ms Watson was ‘absolutely awful’ and was ‘so desperate to please her trans fans’ that she has ‘s*** on all women & ironically the very woman who made her.’
Another tweeted: ‘She should count her lucky stars JK Rowling stuck with her. She owes her a heck of a lot, she needs to stop biting the hand that feeds’.