'Your Feminism is a JOKE!': Emma Watson is accused by Twitter users of 'callously biting the hand that fed her' for slamming JK Rowling hours after author revealed sex assault ordeal - as fellow Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright joins attack

Harry Potter stars Emma Watson and Bonnie Wright have today been accused of 'callousness' and 'biting the hand that fed' them after choosing to slam JK Rowling just hours after the author opened up about her violent first husband and a secret sexual assault.

Miss Watson, 30, who found fame as Hermione Granger, and Miss Wright, 29, who played Ginny Weasley, have both intervened in the row that has seen Ms Rowling accused of transphobia.

Critics have slammed the timing of their social media posts declaring their 'love' for trans women hours after the author spoke about escaping her 'violent marriage' to Portuguese TV journalist Jorge Arantes and also revealed she was seriously sexually assaulted as a young woman. 

One supporter said in a tweet aimed at Miss Watson: 'I've never seen someone bite the hand that fed them so callously. She just disclosed her sexual assault and this is your response. Your "feminism" is back to front. It's a joke'. Others replying to Miss Wright said: 'You clearly haven't read JK's essay' while another said: 'You would have been nothing without her. Shame on you'. 

The Harry Potter stars weighed in just four hours after JK Rowling's essay was published. Emma Watson chose to speak out on Twitter, telling her 29.1million Twitter followers: 'Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are.' 

Miss Watson, who is also the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, wrote: '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.' In a third tweet named two charities to which she donates, Mermaids and Mama Cash, whose work includes supporting trans people, adding: 'If you can, perhaps you'll feel inclined to do the same.' Within half an hour her posts had been 'liked' more than 100,000 times and the total has reached 1.2million within 12 hours. 

Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley in four of the Harry Potter films, tweeted from Los Angeles last night: 'If Harry Potter was a source of love and belonging for you, that love is infinite and there to take without judgment or question. Transwomen are Women. I see and love you, Bonnie x'.    

The British-born actresses, who now both live in the US, have joined Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe in criticising of Ms Rowling, 54, who was accused of transphobia after implying that only women can menstruate. Eddie Redmayne, who starred in the Harry Potter spin-off films Fantastic Beasts, also said he wants to make 'absolutely clear' he does not agree with her. 

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JK Rowling in 2002 with Miss Watson and Miss Wright, who have decided to add fuel to the fire hours after the author's statement

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Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, and Bonnie Wright, who played Ginnie Weasley, chose to intervene hours after Ms Rowling's extraordinary essay

Their tweets have been criticised - especially as Miss Wright suggested in her tweets that there had been many Harry Potter fans alienated by Ms Rowling's tweets

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On Wednesday, the author revealed in a 3,500-word blog post that she was a 'domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor' and was in a 'violent' first marriage to Portuguese journalism student Jorge Arantes. Pictured: The former couple with their daughter Jessica, who is now 26 and was cared for by Ms  Rowling alone before she married her second husband Neil

Yesterday evening JK revealed she was seriously sexually assaulted as a young woman, and beaten by her first husband, as she launched a blistering crusade against the dangers of transgender activism. 

Opening up her heart yesterday JK Rowling said that despite her enormous wealth of an estimated £795million from her Harry Potter books and films, she described how the sex attack left her anxious being alone and if someone approaches her from behind. He said: The scars left by violence and sexual assault don't disappear, no matter how loved you are, and no matter how much money you've made'.  

The Harry Potter author, who wrote the early books as a single mother to daughter Jessica, now 26, also told of suffering 'domestic abuse' as she opened up about the scars of her past as she declared 'deep concerns' about the pressures young people now face to transition to another gender.  

She now also has son David, 17, and daughter Mackenzie, 15, with her GP husband Neil Murray, who she said last night is 'a truly good and principled man' who had made her 'safe and secure in ways I never in a million years expected to be'.

Watson and Wright joined Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in his criticism of Miss Rowling, 54, who was accused of being anti-trans after implying only women can menstruate. Radcliffe apologised to those who 'feel their experience of the [Harry Potter] books has been tarnished' and said he was 'deeply sorry for the pain'.

Eddie Redmayne has become the latest actor to condemn JK Rowling's views on transgender people – saying he wants to make 'absolutely clear' he does not agree with her.

The actor, 38, who starred in the Harry Potter spin-off films Fantastic Beasts, said trans people should be allowed to 'live their lives peacefully'.

Redmayne, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of a trans woman in The Danish Girl, said in a statement: 'Respect for transgender people remains a cultural imperative and over the years I have been trying to constantly educate myself. This is an ongoing process.

'As someone who has worked with both JK Rowling and members of the trans community, I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand. I disagree with Jo's comments.' The father-of-two added: 'Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid. I would never want to speak on behalf of the community but I know that my dear transgender friends and colleagues are tired of this constant questioning of their identities, which all too often results in violence and abuse.'

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Harry Potter stars have lined up to criticise JK Rowling, pictured with her second husband Neil Murray, an Edinburgh GP, after she was accused of transphobia despite her revealing about how she was a victim of domestic abuse and sexual assault

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Turbulent: JK Rowling with first husband Jorge Arantes, who has admitted to 'slapping' her during their short and unhappy marriage

Miss Rowling, 54, even suggested she might have become a man herself - 'to turn myself into the son my father had openly said he'd have preferred' - if she had been subjected to similar pressures when she was a girl.

In an extraordinary and brave 3,669-word essay posted on her personal website, the author wrote a detailed explanation about why she has become embroiled in a bitter row - played out on Twitter and elsewhere - with campaigners who seek greater rights for men and women changing their gender.

Miss Rowling railed against the harm she said was being done to society by activists from the 'trans rights movement'.

She said: 'Huge numbers of women are justifiably terrified by the trans activists.'

She cited five reasons for speaking out, including revealing that in her twenties she was the victim of a serious sexual assault. And she also spoke about her 'violent marriage' to Portuguese TV journalist Jorge Arantes.

Miss Rowling, whose boy wizard books are the biggest-selling in history, said she had received countless death threats for talking about transgender issues, but vowed: 'Endlessly unpleasant as [the] constant targeting of me has been, I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm.'

She did not identify the person responsible for a 'serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties', but told her fans: 'I too have known moments of blind fear when I realised that the only thing keeping me alive was the shaky self-restraint of my attacker.'

The row blew up on Saturday, when Miss Rowling became embroiled in her latest Twitter spat with transgender activists.

Referring to an online article mentioning 'people who menstruate', she suggested this meant 'women', tweeting to her 14.5million followers: 'I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?'

Her remarks led to a backlash from stars including Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the film franchise of the series, and Eddie Redmayne, who stars in Rowling's Fantastic Beasts films.

Last night, Miss Rowling answered her critics in a detailed essay on her website under the headline: 'J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues.'

It included startling revelations about her past, which she said she had never talked about, adding: 'This isn't because I'm ashamed those things happened to me, but because they're traumatic to revisit and remember.'

She said she had not disclosed details before because she felt protective of her daughter Jessica, 17, who was born in 1993.

She wrote: 'I didn't want to claim sole ownership of a story that belongs to her, too. However, a short while ago, I asked her how she'd feel if I were publicly honest about that part of my life, and she encouraged me to go ahead.'

Rowling married first husband Arantes, a former Portuguese TV reporter, in 1992 and separated in 1993. 

After their split when Rowling moved to Edinburgh and stayed in her sister's flat with Jessica, he lost his job as a television journalist and descended into a nightmare of drug addiction.

His 70-year-old mother, Marilia Rodrigues, told the Daily Mirror that he stole family heirlooms and jewelry to feed his drug habit, from which he says he has recovered.

Arantes is last known to be living in a small apartment in the Paris suburb of Clichy with his brother, Justino, a travel agent.

He gave a series of interviews in 2000 in an attempt to get his estranged daughter back, just as Rowling was becoming one of the worlds best loved authors.

He claims he is uninterested in Rowling's money and just wants to see his daughter.

According to a previous interview given by her first husband, Mr Arantes, he was quoted as saying they had split up after an argument when Jessica was a baby, saying: 'She refused to go without Jessica, and, despite my saying she could come back for her in the morning, there was a violent struggle. I had to drag her out of the house at 5 in the morning, and I admit I slapped her very hard in the street.'

Mr Arantes could not be contacted for comment last night. But previously he hit his wife.

Speaking about that night in 1993 he told Rowling to leave their home in Portugal, and told the New York Post: 'She refused to go without Jessica, and, despite my saying she could come back for her in the morning, there was a violent struggle. I had to drag her out of the house at five in the morning, and I admit I slapped her very hard in the street.'

Mr Arantes said their 18-month marriage was 'intense and passionate', adding: 'We were always either in heaven or in hell.'

Yesterday Miss Rowling said in her online essay: 'I managed to escape my first violent marriage with some difficulty. However, the scars left... don't disappear.'

And she said the sexual assault from her twenties had returned to haunt her last Saturday as the Twitter spat unfolded, saying: 'Ground down by the relentless attacks from trans activists on social media, when I was only there to give children feedback about pictures they'd drawn for my book under lockdown, I spent much of Saturday in a very dark place inside my head, as memories of a serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties recurred on a loop.

'That assault happened at a time and in a space where I was vulnerable, and a man capitalised on an opportunity.'

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The Harry Potter author opened up after facing a barrage of criticism for questioning the phrase 'people who menstruate'. In tweet on Saturday, Ms Rowling wrote: 'I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?' 

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Radcliffe responded to Ms Rowling in an article for The Trevor Project,  a US-based organisation supporting focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth

Miss Rowling said online trolls had abused her with hideous language, calling her 'transphobic, a c***, a b***' and saying she 'deserved punching and death'.

She added that one had even cited the villain in her Harry Potter series: 'You are Voldemort, said one person, clearly feeling this was the only language I'd understand.'

The author said she was not revealing her own suffering to garner sympathy, but to make a point and stand up for freedom of speech.

She said she wanted all transgender women to be safe from abuse and harm from men, but 'at the same time, I do not want to make natal [born] girls and women less safe'.

'When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman, then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth,' she wrote.

Miss Rowling added: 'I'm concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition, and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be 'detransitioning' (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility.'

She expressed concern about the 'insular echo chamber' of online services popular with teenagers such as YouTube in which youngsters can talk about transgender identification.

Miss Rowling said: 'I'm an ex-teacher and the founder of a children's charity, which gives me an interest in both education and safeguarding. Like many others, I have deep concerns about the effect the trans rights movement is having on both.'

She claimed: 'The UK has experienced a 4,400 per cent increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely overrepresented in their numbers.'

The author urged politicians to be more robust, saying: 'Speaking as a biological woman, a lot of people in positions of power really need to grow a pair (which is doubtless literally possible).'

Miss Rowling said: 'I haven't written this essay in the hope that anybody will get out a violin for me... all I'm asking - all I want - is for similar empathy, similar understanding, to be extended to the many millions of women whose sole crime is wanting their concerns to be heard without receiving threats and abuse.'

Ms Rowling, who also writes crime novels under the pen name Robert Galbraith, also referred to the backlash she received in December last year after supporting researcher Maya Forstater, who was sacked for tweeting that transgender people cannot change their biological sex. 

She wrote: 'I knew perfectly well what was going to happen when I supported Maya.

'I must have been on my fourth or fifth cancellation by then. 

'I expected the threats of violence, to be told I was literally killing trans people with my hate, to be called c**t and b***h and, of course, for my books to be burned, although one particularly abusive man told me he'd composted them.'

The author's post comes after her incendiary comments on Twitter last week.  After writing her initial controversial tweet, the author continued with another thread speaking about the concept of biological sex. 

'If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction,' she tweeted. 'If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth.' 

Ms Rowling's tweets caused a firestorm of responses from the LGBTQ community and others who were upset with her words. 

A Harry Potter fan group tweeted its disapproval of Rowling's post and encouraged followers to donate to a group that supports transgender women.

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Speaking out: The wordsmith seemingly denied claims of transphobia, before retweeting a fan's comment which slammed 'extremists' for 'insisting biological sex is an illusion'

LGBT rights group GLAAD issued a response on Twitter, calling Ms Rowling's tweets 'inaccurate and cruel.' 

The group then asked those upset by the author's comments to support organizations that help transgender people.

'JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans,' GLAAD tweeted. 'In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people.'

In the 11 years since she completed the Harry Potter books, which have netted her £795million.

then there have been some valiant attempts to do something else. She wrote four books for grown-ups; The Casual Vacancy was a look at small-town politics, while her three crime fiction novels under the pen name Robert Galbraith have all been best sellers. 

She's also spearheaded Lumos, her charity campaigning for orphaned children, and brought up her own family; a single mother to Jessica, now 24, when she started writing Harry Potter, she also has son David, 15, and daughter Mackenzie, 13, with her GP husband Neil Murray.

But she has never been able to let go of Harry Potter entirely.

Even back in 2007 she admitted she had written detailed notes about what happened next to her protagonists — for her own amusement. 'I couldn't stop, I had to know what happened next,' she said of her enduring fascination with her fictional creations.

In 2011, she launched website Pottermore, which continued with small stories about Harry's world, adding more and more layers to an already complicated tapestry.

This year, all pretence about saying goodbye to Harry and his world has disappeared. Not only have we seen the opening of box-office smash play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child — 'the eighth Harry Potter story' about Harry and Ginny Weasley's son Albus and his difficult relationship with his father — but next month sees the release of a new film returning to the wizarding world.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is based on a textbook Harry and his friends read at their wizarding school Hogwarts. A series of five films.