‘I’m here for all the witches’

[JNicholson]

Watched some of the Emma Watson/Jay Shetty podcast the other day including what she said about how she feels about JK Rowling post their disagreement and rift about trans issues. Have also read JK Rowling’s recent response on Twitter, which she posted above a retweeted clip from GB News in which, among other things, a male newsreader claims that EW was ‘snidey’ at the BAFTAs a few years ago when she made her comment about ‘I’m here for all the witches’ (interpreted as a statement of support for trans rights). He claims that she said ‘I’m here for all the witches bar one’, and thus by implication that it was a clear attack against JKR.

Irrespective of what you think about trans issues or EW and JKR in general, AIBU to find it really frustrating that the GB newsreader makes this false claim? IMO if you watch the clip of EW at the BAFTAs, it’s pretty clear that she says ‘I’m here for all the witches BY THE WAY’ and not ‘BAR ONE’. Some of the news outlets at the time seem to have reported it one way, some the other. But it makes such a big difference, because ‘bar one’ would be a really horrible personal attack, whereas ‘by the way’, whatever you feel about the content of EW’s views, is clearly just saying that she has different views to JKR. JKR makes it clear in her post that she viewed that speech by EW as a turning point, which is her prerogative. She may just feel offended that EW made such a public point of disagreeing with hers which is also her prerogative. But I think it’s a real shame if she incorrectly believes that EW said ‘bar one’ and therefore believes it’s more of an attack than it was. IMO for anyone familiar with EW, whatever you think of her otherwise, making a spiteful remark about ‘bar one’ would be really out of character.

AIBU for thinking the media has a responsibility to report on this correctly, as it really changes the meaning of EW’s statement if you claim she said ‘bar one’?

Not looking for a discussion on the rights and wrongs of trans issues, as there are already lots of these on MN - this is a thread about media responsibility to report the news responsibly and not in a false inflammatory way.

Alrighty then

Is it possible she’s saying “bar the one”? Which is why people are picking up on the “the”? I don’t think she was saying “by the way” as it doesn’t fit with the smirky side comment way she said it. Hard to interpret it as anything other than snidey and sarcastic IMO

Well, I guess we disagree then!

The OP was clear that this thread isn't about individuals or gender politics, but whether it's reasonable for GB News to fabricate statements to stir up division.

Disappointing that 72% of respondents believe it's acceptable to misrepresent what people have said to fan controversy, but it confirms where GB News gets its viewers from.

When it's 25 per cent speed with sound off it looks like by the way, to me

She clearly says bar one

It’s definitely "bar one" complete with smirky eyebrow raise. We see you Emma.

Yes. And she never said it wasn’t.

And I never suggested she had said otherwise.
I’m saying we see her being snide not that she’s a liar and claiming she never said it.

I was just agreeing with you!

Oh, haha, thought you were siding with her. Sorry! Time for bed for me.

I’ve just watched it a few times and I’m sure she said ‘by the way.’ Plus it makes more sense.

Does not. And she didn’t.

Possibly its because 72% of respondents don't think GB fabricated anything because she did say "bar one".

I thought this too. Whatever she said it wasn’t designed to be flattering, I don’t think!

I was certain she said bar one but on 0.25x speed I now think it is by the way

I think the smirking is because she's really pleased with herself about the "ALL the witches" part, because she's (a) basking in the glow of showing her full support for transwomen and (b) knowingly speaking against JKR's views (which I believe had only recently been aired in her long essay) and enjoying it.

So I think there is some meanness there but it doesn't relate to the end of her sentence.

I hadn't heard the "bar one" reported anywhere. I think JKR is allowed to decide what her tipping point is for how long to refrain from speaking out about EW and others and how they have positioned themselves in opposition to her, presented her as a villain and claimed themselves as the heroes and representatives of the fictional world she created.

I lip read (hearing impaired) although my hearing has only been poor for a few years and I’m not an exceptional lip reader. I’ve watched it normal speed and slow multiple times and I’m convinced it’s “bar one”.

She hasn’t particularly demonstrated she is a “nice person” imo. Not sure why people think she is. It was 4 days after JK’s infamous “people who menstruate” tweet, and 1 day after DRs big “JK is a mean old bigot and I AM KIND!!!” Publicity piece in the guardian that she decided to tweet that she donates to Mermaids, and encourage others to do the same. This was 2020 when Susie Green was still running the ship. The extent of her ghoulish horror hadn’t been revealed at the time but it was well known (and promoted) that she had blocked her own ds’s puberty completely by buying hormones abroad, then, to finish the job, she flew in to Thailand at 15 to have his underdeveloped penis and testicles removed. Jacob Breslow is less famous and his links to paedophillia less well known but the organisation in general was a safeguarding nightmare from start to finish and was notorious for promoting chemical and surgical neutering of same sex attracted and/or gender non-confirming kids at the time - these aren’t terrible revelations that came out later - it was common knowledge.
This was 2020, 9 years after the release of the last Harry Potter film and not when EW and DR were still children or working with JKR so why they felt they needed to say anything is puzzling. They were 30 at the time - old enough to understand the consequences that having you penis and testicles removed on your 16th birthday might have on you.

You can believe that of all the charities in all the world she chose to donate to a famous child castration charity because she is kind, and she chose to promote that when JK was getting rape threats and DR was getting big articles with flattering photos about what a great lad he is, also because she is kind. I’m less charitable and think she was quite happy for some confused, same sex attracted, autistic, non confirming kids to be butchered if it gave her 5 seconds of relevance. If JK had a huge article in the Guardian saying how fab she was 3 days after her menstruation tweet and DR was getting threatened because he said women are a mixed sex group then EW would have been donating to sex matters, fws, LGBA or just something normal like cancer research or help the aged or the dogs trust. It was deliberate and it was unkind - unkind to JKR, but most of all, unkind to the children who have had their lives fucked up by SG and her child castration organisation.

I was convinced she said “bar one” until I watched it slowed down to .25 speed. It definitely looks like “by the way” - mouth shape. I think the emphasis on “all” was the dig - as in all women included transwomen.

Has she ever denied saying ‘bar one’? It was quite widely reported at the time and I have no memory of her saying she was misquoted.

I’m less charitable and think she was quite happy for some confused, same sex attracted, autistic, non confirming kids to be butchered if it gave her 5 seconds of relevance.

Yes, this makes sense and is a measured assessment. Because EW had no fame, success and fanbase without expressing support for Mermaids.

The OP was clear that she was referring to media in general

and apparently the OP watches GB news, know thine enemy and all that

not a bad thing to get a comprehensive overview of all types of media

even if she didn’t say it if probably worked in her favour at the time for people to believe she did…

My issue with EW is that she waited until
the tide is turning. Staying silent through the appalling attacks and allowing herself at the time to bask in some strange misplaced glory looks was simply self serving and cowardly and it doesn’t matter whether in this instance she said bar one or by the way.