Emma Watson, the British actress who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, has denied reports that she was bullied out of Brown University in Rhode Island, US.
Watson wrote on her website: “The reason I took a semester off from Brown had nothing to do with bullying.
“I have never been bullied in my life and certainly never at Brown.”
The actress recently announced she was taking time out from her liberal arts studies to focus on her movie career.
Watson says she is not sure what her plans are for the beginning of her third year. Like many of her “fellow Brown students”, she is considering studying abroad, she wrote.
Brown University has not commented on media reports this month citing an anonymous “insider” who claimed Watson was bullied out of the institution.
A New York Daily News article posted online April 21 claimed that when Watson responded correctly to questions in class, her classmates would shout: “Three points for Gryffindor!” This is an apparent reference to the Harry Potter films, in which students’ dormitory houses are awarded points for questions they answer correctly.
Watson’s character lives in Gryffindor.
“This ’10 points to Gryffindor’ incident never even happened,” Watson wrote.
“Accusing Brown students of something as serious as bullying and this causing me to leave seems beyond unfair.”
The actress’s comments come a week after Vanessa Davies, her spokeswoman, told reporters that she will transfer to another university in the autumn because she “has decided to pursue a different course which sadly Brown does not offer”.
“Still, it’s possible and likely she may return to Brown in her final year,” Ms Davies said.
The spokeswoman did not identify the university to which Watson will be transferring, but said it was “affiliated to Brown”.
Brown University has declined to comment on Watson’s plans.