"Harry Potter" alum Emma Watson plays Belle in "Beauty And The Beast." (Photo : Reuters)
Emma Watson addressed the fake photo scandal she was threatened with after she spoke out for gender equality. The "Harry Potter" star claimed that instead of being worried or scared, she became more emboldened to fight for women rights. She also knew it was a hoax in the first place, since those naked images did not exist.
In her live engagement on Facebook Q&A to publicize her "HeForShe" equality campaign and the International Women's Day in London, the actress talked of emmayournext.com website - the website put up threatening the release of her naked images immediately after she delivered her first powerful feminism speech at the United Nations in September 2014. For her part, the actress said it did not worry her as much as it angered her, since she knew the it was a hoax. "I knew it was a hoax. I knew the pictures didn't exist," she said. "If anything, it made me so much more determined. I was raging," she added.
On the same interview, she also said the threats she received also served to alert men who were more neutral of the issue with how urgent of an subject gender equality is. "A lot of people close to me knew gender equality was an issue but didn't think it was that urgent. You know, 'We live in Great Britain - this is a thing of the past. We're fine. We're good. We have got far enough," she shared. However, seeing her threatened in a matter of less than 12 hours changed people's minds. "I think they were really shocked and one of my brothers in particular was very upset," she added.
According to the United Nations, the main tenet of the "HeForShe" campaign is that men should join in the fight for gender equality as much as women. For gender inequality to vanish, men should also recognize that feminism is not a feminine cause, it is a campaign that would benefit all.
