Emma Watson Refuses to Let Online Threats Stop Gender Equality Fight

Emma Watson is adamant the online threats she received after launching her women’s rights campaign last year will not deter her from fighting for gender equality.

The former Harry Potter star launched her #HeForShe drive, which encourages men and boys to back the battle for equal rights, through the United Nations in September, but she was subsequently threatened with a nude picture leak.

Online pranksters set up a website devoted to Watson and threatened to post inappropriate pictures of the actress, but the stunt turned out to be a hoax.

Watson opened up about the drama during a live Facebook event she hosted in London on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day, revealing she knew the nude photo threats were empty because “the pictures didn’t exist”.

She added, “I think a lot of people that were close to me knew gender equality was an issue but they didn’t really think it was that urgent or particularly, you know, ‘We live in Great Britain, this is a thing of that past’… And then when they saw that the minute I stepped up and talked about women’s rights, I was immediately threatened – I mean, in less than 12 hours I was receiving threats – and I think they were really shocked and particularly one of my brothers was very upset.

“If anything, it made me so much more determined. I was just raging. It made me so angry that I was just like…’This is why I have to be doing this!’ So if anything, it actually, if they were trying to put me off it, they did the opposite.”

Photo Credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Video Credit: Facebook

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *