Tom Felton’s Song Allegedly About Emma Watson Torn To Shreds

Harry Potter alum Tom Felton is never escaping the “cringe” allegations it seems, after a new song he released last week was torn to absolute shreds on TikTok. And worse still, it appears to reference his kinda-romantic-sorta-not love for Emma Watson — a narrative even the most dedicated of fans are starting to tire from. If you are a dedicated Millennial Harry Potter fan, I must kindly ask you to leave the chat.

Felton has been making music for some years now, though it’s never really been what he’s known for. And sadly, the one time a song has taken off, it’s been for all the wrong reasons (though after his support for She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, I can’t say I feel too bad for him).

Felton released his latest album ORaNgE last week, and one of the songs, “hOLDing On” (wHaT iS tHiS, 2o13?), has been absolutely dragged by listeners who think it’s, well… bad. Listen to it below:

Part of the ire has come from people who think Felton can’t really sing, whereas others criticised his songwriting skills.

Considering “Lord, take my youth, but please don’t take my girl” and “This girl ain’t off the shelf, mate, she’s top drawer” are real, genuine lyrics, I can’t blame them. It’s the off-beat echoes for me, though.

“Tom Felton releasing a song worse than “Karma” by JoJo Siwa wasn’t on my 2024 bingo card but here we are…” TikTok user Miruhda (@miruhda) wrote in a video that has been viewed more than four million times at the time of writing.

“He made this song… then listened to this… and thought this was okay to release??”

Comments on the video held similar sentiments, with one person writing “I’m begging for this to be satire” and another saying “this is what I sound like singing to my music with my AirPods in.”

“A pAIr of wings on ma back,” one TikToker mocked, while another said they “LOVE” Felton but find the song “painful”.

Comments on the YouTube video were similar, with one person calling the song “diabolical” and another likening it to 2014 Tumblr.

However, what’s really sending TikTokers (and myself) are the lyrics that appear to reference Emma Watson.

Is Tom Felton’s song “hOLDing On” about Emma Watson?

Two pointed lyrics of “hOLDing On” that have raised eyebrows among Tom Felton fans are the lines “I’m just a boy on a skateboard” and “I’ll still make your heart skip now like you were 17”.

The reason they stand out is because of the long-standing will-they-won’t-they vibes between Felton and Emma Watson.

To give you a quick recap, Watson used to have a huge crush on Tom Felton when he was a teenager, but these feelings were unrequited. Or, well, that’s what Felton insisted for literal years, though he finally came clean in his memoir and admitted the two “definitely nursed crushes” on each other but “at different times”, so the ship never sailed.

Watson wrote the foreword to Felton’s memoir, in which she said the pair are “soulmates” and share one of the “purest loves” she can possibly think of. All platonically, apparently.

Around the same time, Watson shared a photo of her and Felton skateboarding together — hence the skateboarding comment.

People who are invested in their relationship might love the fact that this song appears to be a love letter to a relationship with Watson that never eventuated — but others feel a way that can only be encapsulated with this meme:

“Dracotok 2020 would have eaten this up,” one TikToker wrote.

“It’s quite literally the fault of all the Draco simps that he is like this,” complained another.

“He’s like the guy who won’t stop talking about his high school football career in his 30s, but somehow way worse,” another said.

Look, if Emma Watson had a crush on me, I too would probably never shut up about it. But also, someone get this man a job.