Emma Watson's Ex Brandon Green Comes From A Controversial Wealthy Family

Remember when Emma Watson starred on-screen as the adorable teacher's pet in Gryffindor House? She grew up on the set of "Harry Potter," and as befits a real-life movie star, ended up dating beyond (the fictional) Ron Weasley and Cormac McLaggen. However, Watson remains tight-lipped on the status of her love life, fueling speculation that she should just settle down already and marry Tom Felton, aka Draco Malfoy.

Despite being Harry Potter's archrival in the Potterverse, Watson copped to having feelings for Felton IRL. "[Girls] love a bad guy, and he was a few years older, and he had a skateboard. And that just did it, really. He used to do tricks on it. He was so cool," she said on "The Jonathan Ross Show" in 2012. In 2022, Watson set the Twitterverse on fire when she admitted she "fell in love" with Felton, Teen Vogue noted. "I used to come in every day and look for his number on the call sheet ... If his number was on the call sheet, it was an extra exciting day," she added.

Though a Felton-Watson romance might be exactly what we need in 2023, that's not the controversial pairing we're here to talk about. Watson's most recent boyfriend was Brandon Green, whom she only split up with in late 2022. In typical fashion, the actress hasn't spoken about the breakup, which makes us wonder whether it had anything to do with Green's controversial family.

Like Emma Watson, Brandon Green is a staunch advocate for the environment. "Over the past few decades, the climate has become a major concern, and I think that, for people of my generation, it is, without a doubt, the biggest issue there is," he said in an Instagram video for Centre Scientifique De Monaco. We imagine climate activism could be what brought Watson and Brandon together, but the rest of Brandon's family is infamous for somewhat less altruistic reasons.

Brandon's father is Sir Philip Green, a billionaire who made a name for himself through the Topshop fashion brand, which shuttered in 2021. In 2018, The Guardian reported allegations of "bullying and harassment" at the company, including sexual harassment and verbal abuse. Sir Philip insisted that employees misunderstood his "banter," but one worker explained that the CEO's behavior could be chalked up to a lack of accountability. "The large part of why he's never held to account — he's seen as the owner, that's the beginning and end of it. If you don't like it you know where to go," they said.

Sir Philip and Topshop also came under fire for using sweatshop labor, according to the Daily Mail. The company was said to be reliant on Indian workers to produce clothing products, many of whom were paid a pittance, or "around half of the average wage [in] Mauritius." The above controversies were also chronicled in a 2023 BBC docuseries titled "Trouble at Topshop."

Sir Philip Green isn't the only member of the Green family to make headlines for problematic reasons. His daughter Chloe Green became a fixture in the tabloids after she stepped out with former gang member Jeremy Meeks. In 2009, Jeremy went viral for his good-looking mugshot, which earned him the nicknames "Hot Felon," "Jail Bae," and "The Blue-Eyed Bandit." After serving time for gun possession, Jeremy was released from jail in 2016 — and a year later, he was spotted smooching Chloe on her family's yacht. This raised eyebrows not only because of Jeremy's violent past but because he was still married at the time. After going Insta official with Jeremy, fans wasted no time sliding into Chloe's DMs and accusing her of being a "homewrecker," according to Yahoo! News.

Jeremy's then-wife, Melissa Meeks, spoke to "This Morning" hosts about how her ex's infidelity left her heartbroken. "I had no indication he was looking for another relationship," she said. "People who are married, you go through your ups and downs. I thought it was a new chapter in our lives, we'd have to get over the hump, and it would be fine."

Chloe and Jeremy went on to welcome their son Jayden in 2019 but called time on their relationship by 2020. Even though Chloe is no longer with her "Hot Felon," the romance left her with a bad reputation. Like father like daughter, perhaps?