Emma Watson has been banned from driving after being caught driving more than 25 percent of the speed limit.
The Harry Potter star, who played Hermione Granger in the franchise, would have been wishing for a spell to reverse the fine she received after she was snapped driving 38mph in a 30mph zone in Oxford, England, on the evening of July 31 last year.
Watson did not attend her five-minute hearing that was held today (July 16) at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court – which is located roughly a 45-minute drive southeast of the city where the Brit has been studying.
The 35 year old actor, who hasn’t appeared in a movie since the 2019 remake of Little Women, is currently working towards a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Oxford – and has been since 2023.
Emma Watson has been banned from driving for six months (Arnold Jerocki/GC Images)
However, District Judge Arvind Sharma found no leeway for the Hollywood A-lister, slapping her with a hefty $1,400 fine, with Watson having already racked up nine points on her driver’s license before prior to her having been caught driving 26 percent over the speed limit last year.
The court ruled that the Beauty and the Beast star is banned from driving for six months, as Sharma endorsed three more points the star’s license.
Coincidentally, Watson was not the only Harry Potter star to have been fined for speeding in the same court on the exact same day.
Zoë Wanamaker, whose character Madam Hooch taught Hermione Granger to fly a broomstick back in 2001 in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was also snapped exceeding the speed limit – by 15 percent.
The Madam Hooch actress was also caught speeding (Jordan Peck / Contributor / Getty)
While she might not have been testing the laws of the road as fiercely as Watson, the 76-year-old was still caught driving 46mph in a 40mph zone.
Wanamaker’s offense took place on August 7 last year, while she was motoring down the M4 in Newbury – which is located a 40-minute drive south of Oxford.
She too was slapped with a $1,400 fine and also banned from driving for six months, having also racked up nine points on her driver’s license prior to her own speeding incident, with Sharma also endorsing the star with three more points in her sentencing.
The American, who was born in New York but spent most of her career working in TV in the UK, only featured in the first adaption of JK Rowling’s esteemed Harry Potter books.
UNILAD has contacted both Emma Watson and Zoë Wanamaker’s representatives for comment
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community some readers may find distressing
Author J. K. Rowling has issued a scathing statement after three Harry Potter stars signed an open pro-transgender letter following a recent ruling by the UK Supreme Court.
On April 16, judges stated that the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex.
The landmark ruling outlined that a person who was not born as a biological female could not obtain the legal protections the Act affords to women by changing their gender with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
As per BBC, the Act however, still provides transgender people with protection against discrimination, with Dr Michael Foran, a lecturer in public law at Glasgow University, explaining: “They are protected under our equality law.”
J.K. Rowling has been outspoken regarding her LGBTQ+ views (X/@jk_rowling)
Following the UK Supreme Court’s bombshell decision, Harry Potter writer Joanne Kathleen Rowling, 59, known best by her pen name J. K. Rowling, celebrated the ruling.
She called it the TERF version of VE Day on social media and also wrote: “Women have fought (and are still fighting) the single biggest land grab on their rights in my lifetime.
“Some have sacrificed their livelihoods and safety to combat a pernicious ideology that has infiltrated elite institutions, including government.”
In the days that followed, celebrities came out in their droves to sign a pro-transgender open letter.
Eddie Redmayne, 43, who played Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts films, Katie Leung, 37, best known for portraying Cho Chang in the Harry Potter flicks and Paapa Essiedu, 34, set to star as Severus Snape in the magical HBO reboot, were among the famous names to sign the script.
On Saturday (May 3), Rowling called out the ‘back-stabbing colleagues’ who decided to sign the letter in an essay posted to social media.
“In light of recent open letters from academia and the arts criticising the UK’s Supreme Court ruling on sex-based rights, it’s possibly worth remembering that nobody sane believes, or has ever believed, that humans can change sex, or that binary sex isn’t a material fact,” the author wrote.
Eddie Redmayne is just one of Rowling’s colleagues to sign an open pro-trans letter (Warner Bros.)
“These letters do nothing but remind us of what we know only too well: that pretending to believe these things has become an elitist badge of virtue.”
She continued to argue that ‘signatories of these sorts of letters are motivated by fear’.
“Fear for their careers, of course, but also fear of their co-religionists, who include angry, narcissistic men who threaten and sometimes enact violence on non-believers; back-stabbing colleagues ever ready to report wrongthink; the online shamers and doxxers and rape threateners, and, of course, the influential zealots in the upper echelons of liberal professions.”
In a further update, Rowling has made her stance on Eddiedu signing the open letter crystal clear.
On Monday (May 5), she shared a recent headline from the Scottish Daily Express: “JK Rowling won’t have new Harry Potter TV star sacked despite defiance.”
In response, the mother-of-three typed: “I don’t have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn’t exercise it if I did,” she typed on Twitter. “I don’t believe in taking away people’s jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine.”
Rowling’s latest comments come after she famously blasted Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for opposing her transgender views.
Radcliffe, 35, who portrayed Harry Potter in all eight of the original Warner Bros. films and Watson, 35, who starred as Hermione, have both pledged their support to the transgender community in the past.
Their subsequent comments came after Rowling posted in 2023 that she would ‘happily’ do jail time rather than refer to someone by their preferred pronouns.
This comment led Radcliffe to issue an apology to the trans community for the ‘pain’ the comments caused, while Watson assured fans there were: “So many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”
Rowling addressed the pair’s comments after she saw a message that read: “Waiting for Dan and Emma to give [her] a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that [she] will forgive them.”
The author seemingly reignited her feud with Harry Potter stars earlier this year (X/@jk_rowling)
“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,” she replied in 2024.
On March 17, Rowling seemingly reignited her feud with Radcliffe and Watson and also possibly took aim at Ron Weasley actor Rupert Grint, 36.
In response to a post which read: “What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?”, the star replied: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.
Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community which some readers may find distressing
JK Rowling has appeared to take a new swipe at the stars of her Harry Potter movies months after she claimed she would ‘never forgive’ Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
Despite working together for years on end while bringing her Harry Potter books to life, actors Radcliffe, Watson and Rupert Grint have since distanced themselves from Rowling.
The actors have made clear that they do not agree with some of the author’s controversial opinions surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, which include one comment from Rowling suggesting she would rather go to prison than refer to a transgender person by their prefered pronouns.
JK Rowling has sparked widespread backlash with her controversial comments (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
Writing on Twitter in 2023, she said: “I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex.”
Amid the controversy, Radcliffe issued an apology to the trans community for ‘the pain’ caused by Rowling’s comments, while Watson showed solidarity with the trans community as she assured them that ‘so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are’.
The differing opinions between the actors and the author prompted Rowling to lash out at her former co-workers after one Twitter user said they were ‘waiting for Dan and Emma to give [her] a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that [she] will forgive them’.
Watson and Radcliffe have made clear they disagree with Rowling’s views (Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
However, Rowling said the stars were ‘not safe’ in that knowledge, saying: “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.”
Now, Rowling appears to have hinted at her disapproval of not only Watson and Radcliffe, but also Grint as she shared a new tweet on March 17.
The author made her comment in response to a post which reads: “What actor/actress instantly ruins a movie for you?”
In response, Rowling wrote: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.”
Rowling hinted that the three Harry Potter stars now ‘ruin’ movies for her (Twitter/@jk_rowling)
Given that Radcliffe, Watson and Grint were very much a major trio in Rowling’s most popular works, it’s not hard to guess who she was refering to.
Rowling’s comment sparked mixed responses from her followers, with some showing support for her while others took the actors’ side.
One person wrote: “Three guesses? 1. The same people who made millions off your work, then turned on you when it was ‘cool’.”
However, another hit back: “They ruined the movies for you, but you ruined everything else for everyone else, at least for those with beating hearts.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.
Emma Watson has revealed why she continues to reject Hollywood acting roles five years after her last big gig.
The 34-year-old, who was propelled into celebrity status for her role as Hermione in Harry Potter, has not appeared in a major blockbuster since 2019’s Little Women, where she starred as Meg March.
Since then, the 34-year-old has turned her attentions to activism, stating in 2020 how she was keen to ’embrace a role where she works to amplify more voices, to continue to learn from those with different experiences’.
Nonetheless, Harry Potter fans have long asked whether she could make a Hollywood return.
That doesn’t seem to be on the cards in the immediate future, however, with Watson revealing why she continues to reject acting jobs.
Emma Watson has took a break from Hollywood (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
She told the Financial Times last year: “The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn’t have very much control over.
“It was very difficult to have to be the face and the spokesperson for things where I didn’t get to be involved in the process.”
In past interviews, Watson has insisted she hasn’t retired from Hollywood for good, so we’ll hopefully see her again before long.
However, what type of role that may be and in what capacity is anyone’s guess.
Speaking with Vogue last December, the Harry Potter star further explained her reasoning behind her hiatus.
When asked about why she has turned down opportunities in recent years, Watson told the publication: “Because I’m in a career that moves very quickly, the decision to take time to do these things felt like a very big decision.
“[Choosing] to go back and write and study and get behind the camera was terrifying for me because I’d never done it before. I had always been in front of the camera; I’d always been an actor.”
The actor doesn’t seem to be making a return anytime soon (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
She continued: “I’m just so glad that I did [step away from acting] because I have this feeling of having my own voice and creative space and sovereignty in some way that I don’t think I did before – more autonomy.
“I’m so glad that I allowed things to be messy for a minute and to really allow myself to not know [what’s next], because the knowing that I’ve come to, I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
“I get a front row seat [with] some of the most successful, beautiful, incredible people in the world.
“And when you have that seat it becomes very, very clear that there is just absolutely no level of success that will make you in any way happy or content if you do not like who you are or enjoy what you’re doing when no one’s watching.”
People on social media now understand the creepy behavior Emma Watson had to suffer at the hands of the paparazzi.
Emma Watson quickly became a household name across the world through starring as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise.
However, with this fame came a rather creepy and disturbing response from the paparazzi as she was turning 18-years-old, after years of being in the public eye.
Back in 2023, the star reflected on how the paparazzi made her feel so awful on what should be a momentous occasion, her 18th birthday.
The then 33-year-old said: “I mean, I was obviously a child actress who is still making a transition, and I remember on my 18th birthday – I came out of my 18th birthday party and photographers lay down on the pavement and took photographs up my skirt, which were then published on the front of the English tabloids the next morning.
Emma Watson in 2009, the year she turned 18 (Gareth Davies/Getty Images)
“If they published the photographs 24 hours earlier, they would have been illegal but, because I turned 18, they were legal.”
The actions of the photographers can clearly be described as ‘upskirting’ – the act of taking a sexually intrusive photograph up someone’s skirt without their permission.
But shockingly, the act itself wasn’t officially recognized as its own crime until 2019 after vigorous campaign work. Prior to this, it would genuinely fall under other indecency laws.
The Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 came into force on April 12 of the same year, and it added two new offences to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to cover the practice of upskirting, making it punishable with up to two years in prison.
Back in 2009, Watson also spoke about how the whole ordeal made her feel violated.
She said: “I realized that overnight I’d become fair game.
Watson has previously spoken about how the paparazzi made her feel violated(Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
“One photographer lay down on the floor to get a shot up my skirt … The night it was legal for them to do it, they did it. I woke up the next day and felt completely violated by it all.”
Social media users were utterly baffled by this and commented on Reddit their disgust.
One enraged user wrote: “Paparazzi are legit scum of the earth. If that occupation ceased to exist, the world would be a better place.”
Another said: “Man I feel terrible for women. Having a daughter is equal parts amazing and terrifying knowing she has to navigate this screwed up world.”
With a third adding: “Never forget the countdown multiple girls got to their 18th. People are disgusting.”
With another simply adding: “That’s f****** disgusting.”