Post hoc ergo…?
From the Department of Weird Manipulative Headlines:
Emma Watson up for national award after JK Rowling comments
Weird because “after” anything and everything. Time is what it is, so pretty much everything is “after” any given X. Emma Watson up for national award after brushing her teeth, after lunch, after someone in China eats lunch, after everyone in China eats lunch – you get the idea.
It’s sly and sneaky, is what it is. They don’t want to say “despite” or similar, because it might make trouble, so they fall back on the neutral “after” and thus say something absurdly devoid of meaning.
Beware of “after”.
Well, well, Emma’s up for a UK Diversity Award. According to the article, “The actress is well known for her iconic role as Hermione Granger in all eight of the Harry Potter films, released from 2001 to 2011.” And nothing else.
The word they want is “because.” Emma’s shortlisted because of her row with JKR. There’s no other reason to put her on the list in 2026.