PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Emma Watson, the British actress who plays Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series, on Friday denied reports she was bullied out of Brown University – an assertion backed up by fellow students who said that, if anything, she was shielded from being singled out.

Watson said she is not sure what her plans are for the fall semester, the beginning of her third year. Like many of her “fellow Brown students,” she wrote on her website, she is considering studying abroad. “The reason I took a semester off from Brown had nothing to do with bullying,” Watson wrote. “I have never been bullied in my life and certainly never at Brown.”

Additional Photos

Emma Watson, seen in London at the BAFTA Film Awards this year, says she ”was never bullied in my life and certainly never at Brown.” The actress has announced she will not return to the university for her third year. The Associated Press

Erin Burnett

Brown has not commented on media reports this month citing an anonymous Brown “insider” who claimed Watson was bullied out of school.

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!” – a 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,” wrote Watson, who has denied that rumor before. “Accusing Brown students of something as serious as bullying and this causing me to leave seems beyond unfair.”

Apart from the Gryffindor comment, there was little sense on campus that Brown students heckled or antagonized Watson, said Estes and other students.

In class, students were respectful of Watson, said Bianca Dahl, a visiting professor who teaches a course on global humanitarian aid that Watson attended briefly at the start of the spring 2010 semester.

Kid Rock to get NAACP award, despite Confederate flag 

DETROIT – Kid Rock is known as a champion for Detroit – proudly displaying the Motor City in music videos, jumping in when an area summer festival fell on hard times and using money from his “Made in Detroit” clothing line to help start a college fund for local music students.

His work as a regional booster behind the scenes and in front of the camera has garnered him many accolades, including a Spirit of Detroit award at his 40th birthday bash in January. So recognition from the local branch of the NAACP should come as no surprise – except that Kid Rock, a longtime aficionado of Southern rock, also is known for using the Confederate flag in his on-stage act.

The Rev. Wendell Anthony, branch president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, stands by the group’s decision to give Kid Rock its Great Expectations Award during the civil rights organization’s annual Fight for Freedom Fund dinner, though to many, the Confederate flag remains a symbol of racism and oppression of blacks in the South. The NAACP in South Carolina has fought against a public display of the flag on statehouse grounds.

Burnett leaving CNBC, will start at CNN in June

NEW YORK — Erin Burnett, one of CNBC’s most visible personalities, is jumping to CNN.
The news network announced Friday that it had signed Burnett to host a general news program that will appear sometime after she arrives at CNN in June. The format and time slot have not been determined, said Ken Jautz, CNN executive vice president.

Burnett is currently on the air for three hours during business days at CNBC, first as co-anchor with Mark Haines on “Squawk on the Street” from 9 to 11 a.m., then on her own “Street Signs” from 2 to 3 p.m. She also makes appearances on many NBC News programs, like “Today,” ‘’Meet the Press” and “Nightly News.”

Related Stories