Some say that Emma Watson may be used to fending off Hogwarts’ bullies as the character Hermione in Harry Potter but insiders say that bullies at Brown University may have proved to be too much of a challenge for the 21-year-old.
Watson recently announced her plans to put her studies of European women’s history and drama at Brown on hold because of her acting commitments, but sources say that the real cause was that fellow students at the Ivy League school were not nice to her. Students would reportedly tease her if she answered any questions in class and yell out a Harry Potter quote, with the popular phrase being “Three points for Gryffindor!” For those that are not Harry Potter fans, and that includes me, Gryffindor is a competing house at Hogwarts school of wizardry. The students would also yell out Harry Potter phrases at her outside of school, such as when she was watching football games.
She had admitted before attending the school in 2009 that she was “scared” she wouldn’t fit in. “I was afraid they’d think, ‘You’re famous. You’re given free handbags. Why should you deserve to be normal?'”
Reps for Watson have not addressed the bullying rumors, however, Watson did say she would continue working towards her degree.
“I will still be working towards my degree… it’s just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought,” Watson said on her website. “As you know, I love Brown and I love studying pretty much more than anything but recently I’ve had so much to juggle that being a student and fulfilling my other commitments has become a little impossible.”
I don’t buy that this supposed bullying was as severe as some are saying. I attended Brown for 4 years in the 90’s earning my Masters and Ph.D., and there was no way the school would tolerate this behavior. Brown worked hard to create the most politically correct environment possible and students there are used to being around the rich and famous… especially since many of them are exactly that. Teachers at Brown would never tolerate a student being singled out for bullying in class. A humorous remark here and there doe not constitute bullying and in any case is something an experienced professional actress should be to handle.
Image credit to Lia Toby/WENN.com
