Emma Watson throws shade at transphobe J.K. Rowling: 'I'm here for ALL of the witches, bar one'

Trigger Warning: Transphobia

Emma Watson, who rose to fame as Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies, recently attended the BAFTA awards ceremony. Before she delivered a speech during the event, she made a subtle but impactful jab at J.K. Rowling, the author of the massively successful "Harry Potter" books. In recent years, Rowling has made transphobic comments, claiming that trans women could not qualify as "real" women. Watson's comment seemed aptly targeted toward the transphobe, many of whose fans seem to have lost faith in her. The statement went viral online, where folks praised the actress for her well-timed jibe, Bored Panda reports.

During the BAFTA awards ceremony, host Rebel Wilson invited Watson, a United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador, onto the stage. "Our next presenter is Emma Watson," she stated. "She is proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she is a witch." Of course, Wilson was referring to the character she played on the cult classic series "Harry Potter." As Watson approached the podium, she affirmed, "I'm here for all of the witches." Then, under her breath, she added, "Bar one." The comment may have been made in passing, but users on Twitter definitely picked up on the jibe.

One Twitter user posted, "Emma Watson is a queen for this." Others seemed to agree. "I love the shade Emma Watson just threw at JK Rowling at the BAFTAs," another commented. "Emma is a QUEEN." yet another Twitter user wrote, "Emma Watson saying, 'I’m here for ALL of the witches' was absolutely a big [finger[ to JK Rowling and I couldn’t love her more for it." However, others seemed to disagree with this point of view. They argued that Watson owed the author her career, which they claimed was as successful as it is because of the "Harry Potter" movies.

For example, one person posted, "Freedom of expression is very important. So I want to make it clear that I 100 percent support Emma Watson’s right to be an ungrateful and talentless little sh*t, as much as I do the rights of her critics to call her an ungrateful and talentless little sh*t." "People are being harsh on the wonderful Emma Watson for her ungracious dismissal of JK Rowling," another stated. "Please don’t judge her on this one brief moment, but instead consider her decades of incredibly bad acting." Nonetheless, several other Twitter users came to her defense.

"Pretty sure that [Watson] is a UN ambassador, Ivy League graduate, has acted in several other prestige films, launched multiple companies, is on the board of directors for another organization, speaks at international conferences, and has done philanthropy full-time for half her life," one person reminded the actress' critics. "She doesn’t owe Joanne a damn thing but a tiny mention at the bottom of her resume." Another Twitter user affirmed, "The thing that’s completely wild about the Emma Watson thing, aside from the notion that you owe former employees loyalty in all matters for the rest of time, is that she didn’t say *anything* negative about her. She was supportive of trans women. That was it. That was the slight." So, yet again, transphobes proved that they will attack anyone who defends the rights of trans folks.