Actress and gender activist Emma Watson is being accused of exploiting the death of her former Harry Potter co-star Alan Rickman to further her feminist agenda.
After the legendary actor died this week following a battle with cancer, Watson was among the many Harry Potter co-stars who took to social media to pay tribute.
The starlet initially wrote on her Facebook page, “I’m very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor.”
However, moments later on her Twitter page, Watson shared an image of Rickman, along with a quote about feminism he had given during a March 2015 interview with ABC Australia.
#alanrickman pic.twitter.com/4WXwnoUtM7
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) January 14, 2016
“There’s nothing wrong with a man being a feminist, I think it’s to our mutual advantage,” Rickman told the outlet.
Twitter users questioned the timing of Watson’s post, and one accused her of using the actor’s death to push “feminist propaganda” on her followers.
https://twitter.com/TomsAllende/status/687661536849096704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
.@EmWatson oh wow, you're using someone's death to push a completely unrelated agenda. this is so, so gross.
— Chloe 🌸 (@dekashoko) January 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/1984WS1/status/687777597464440836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@KevinWalsh222 He was an agent of the patriarchy! Poor Emma! He might have died, but she was the real victim here!!
— ヤヸェ (@WonderFir) January 16, 2016
@EmWatson Before his corpse is even cold. Well done.
— Hugh Watt-Maite (@phatb0y) January 14, 2016
@EmWatson mans died and all this idiot can think about is feminism shm
— Śid (@gerraawr) January 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/thanatoskepsi/status/687671402774851584
@EmWatson well that was distastefully opportunistic of you…
— NorBdelta (@NorBdelta) January 14, 2016
@EmWatson Nice way to exploit a man's death to further push your sjw agenda.
— Honest Featherless Biped (With Toes) 🌎 (@Nat_number_1) January 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/ebumbel/status/687684485232640001
Watson is a leading Hollywood advocate for gender equality.
In September 2014, she delivered a ten-minute speech on the subject before the United Nations, where she launched her “He for She” campaign, which recruits men and boys as advocates for gender equality.