With so much attention and controversy surrounding the upcoming HBO Max Harry Potter reboot, it’s unsurprising that stories about the original cast are circulating online. The most viral right now? A rather disturbing revelation about how paparazzi violated Emma Watson’s privacy and dignity at her 18th birthday party.

An article from Cosmopolitan in 2016 features how Watson revealed the details of this awful experience during a speech the actor made at the launch of HeForShe Arts week, “a celebration of gender equality in the arts,” in New York.

“I remember on my 18th birthday I came out of my birthday party and photographers laid down on the pavement and took photographs up my skirt, which were then published on the front of the English tabloid [newspapers] the next morning. If they had published the photographs 24 hours earlier they would have been illegal, but because I had just turned 18 they were legal.”

Watson has always been a fierce advocate for women in the film industry, as well as just women worldwide. Appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July 2014, the actor has regularly delivered public speeches, calling upon the public to recognise the importance of female liberation and solidarity.

@sadboistorm

feminist & proud! #foryou #emmawatson #speech #feminism #equality #women #men #school #media #bodypositivity #choice #education

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A number of Watson’s fans have expressed disgust and disappointment at the way in which the paparazzi approached photographing a young girl. 

Saw a video of Emma Watson talking about how the paparazzi waited outside of her 18th bday party, lying on the ground to take pictures up her skirt which then ended up on the front page…like the disgusting ghouls they are ..do we stop caring about girls once they turn 18?

— sadi (@pastadiscourse) October 16, 2020

this reminds me of when emma watson had paparazzi take pictures up her dress, sad to see nothing has changed

— zoe (@princeofp0p) March 26, 2021

There’s definitely something to be said about the fact that Watson turning 18 should not have automatically given these photographers the green light to infringe on her basic human rights.