Update, Tuesday, January 4 at 9:30 p.m.: 1, 2, 3, and poof! The Emma’s are now in their rightful homes, er streaming platforms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has re-uploaded the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts†special after fans noticed several editing mistakes. “Well spotted Harry Potter fans!†the streamer said in a statement. “You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention. New version is up now.†The edits include removing the photo of baby Emma Roberts as baby Emma Watson and correctly naming twins Oliver and James Phelps, as they were previously mislabeled as each other. Oliver acknowledged the mistake on Instagram, joking that “somebody decided to get their revenge†after their years of pranking.
Original story follows.
Haven’t Harry Potter fans been through enough? First, knowing your Hogwarts house became the most cheugy of all generation-defining millennial traits. Then the transphobia. Now HBO Max’s Harry Potter reunion special has come for the celebrity Emmas. In the reunion special, Golden Trio actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson discussed their connection to Harry Potter before and after getting cast. And as is normal in docs, editors used archival photos to add visual oomph to the actors’ voice-over. Except one lone pic of the wrong famous Emma found its way into the program. Emma Roberts stans pointed out on Twitter that the special used one picture of Roberts, who posted the photo of herself in Minnie Mouse ears with an Aladdin thermos in 2012. Oops.
How this got beyond the clearance stage is baffling, but it’s an honest mistake. Who hasn’t gotten some same-name celebs twisted before? In a world of infinite Chrises? Don’t act as if you’re above this.
To help future historians distinguish between famous Emmas, here are some helpful tips: Emma Watson is in Harry Potter and hides books in all major cities. Emma Roberts was in the underrated SCRE4M and played essentially the same (amazing) character on American Horror Story: Coven and Scream Queens. Emma Bunton is Baby Spice. Emma Stone was in the “Les Jeunes de Paris†SNL sketch. Emma Thompson won an Oscar for adapting Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and danced like a madwoman at the Adele concert in London. Jane Austen’s Emma was adapted into Clueless. Emma Goldman helped shape 20th-century anarchist thought. Emma Chamberlain invented the sweater vest. And Emma Bovary spent well beyond her means, which I think was supposed to be a metaphor for something. Hope that helps!