Emma Watson Addresses Engagement and Retirement Speculation

Rumors of Emma Watson’s retirement from Hollywood have been greatly exaggerated, according to the actress herself. In a series of statements posted on Twitter, she debunked speculation that she quit acting and secretly got engaged to her boyfriend, Leo Robinton, amid her retreat from the public eye during the pandemic.

“Dear Fans,” Watson began. “Rumours about whether I’m engaged or not, or whether my career is “dormant or not” are ways to create clicks each time they are revealed to be true or untrue,” she wrote. Watson may have been taking aim at a recent Daily Mail story that called Robinton her “rumoured fiancé,” after papping them exiting a pharmacy. Side note: can we leave celebrities alone when they’re picking up their medication? Everyone is entitled to attend to their health without having their pill bottles blasted all over the internet.

Still, as it turns out, Watson has been riding out the pandemic like all of us. She wrote that she “[failed] to make sourdough bread” and has been laying low in order to not “spread a virus that is still affecting so many people.” Watson also definitively stated that any updates on her life would come directly from her: “If I have news - I promise I’ll share it with you.”

Meanwhile, she has her seat on the board of directors for Kering, the parent company that owns several luxury brands, including Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and Balenciaga. Watson has long been an activist; she was a UN WOMEN Global Goodwill Ambassador and publicly supported trans rights in light of transphobic comments from the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.