Harvard Magazine Apologizes To Emma Watson After Football Game Incident

The editor-in-chief of The Harvard Voice has apologized to “Harry Potter” star Emma Watson after a controversial incident at last weekend’s Harvard-Brown football game.

In a note posted on the Voice’s Web site on Thursday, editor Alicia Ramos denied allegations from the New York Post’s Page Six that the paper had encouraged what Page Six described as a “stalking mission” on Thursday.

The Post had reported Tuesday that the star was left “quite shaken” from fans’ attention and needed the assistance of security guards for her safety at the weekend game.

In her letter on Thursday, Ramos explained that Watson, a Brown student, had been expected on the Harvard campus for the event, which reporters for the student magazine live-Tweeted and blogged over the weekend.

“The presence of a luminary on campus inevitably creates much speculation and excitement, certainly without the help of an intentionally facetious liveblog,” she wrote. “The Voice denies any efforts to ‘orchestrate’ a mass mob of gawkers. In fact, the bloggers were never certain whether or not Watson was actually present and never once caught a glimpse of her… The blog was meant as an intentionally sensationalist parody for which no real action was taken.

“The Voice apologizes for any misunderstanding that the live blog may have caused and for any discomfort Miss Watson may have felt due to the post,” she concluded.

Further, in a statement to Access Hollywood on Thursday, Ramos called the Post’s story “outrageously overblown.”

However, last Friday, the Voice’s Twitter page devoted numerous posts to what Ramos termed the “intentionally facetious” search for the star.

“Let’s go Hermione! Lolz,” a reporter Tweeted at the time, referring to Watson’s on-screen character. “In enemy territory. Lookin for a certain witch.”

Though Ramos denied that the star was spotted by its reporters, the Twitter page seemed to indicate otherwise later that evening.

“WATSON FOUND. i repeat WATSON FOUND,” a Tweet read.

A photo apparently of Watson taken by a photographer for the mag was posted on its blog after the game.