An Aussie TV exec recently offered some cringeworthy remarks about Emilia Clarke during the Australian House of the Dragon premiere.
Foxtel is one of two Australian media companies distributing the upcoming House of the Dragon down under. With their single largest subscriber bump coming during the series finale of Game of Thrones, you would think the CEO would be gratious towards the series’s cast and crew.
That was not the case when CEO Patrick Delaney spoke of Emilia Clarke during a keynote speech at the Australian premiere of House of the Dragon.
“I was like, ‘What’s this show with the short, dumpy girl walking into the fire?’ ”
According to Crikey, the reception to the joke was extremely cold.
“It felt like he was expecting us to laugh along but people in the room were obviously shocked by it,” one said. “There was a bit of a gasp,” another said.
Foxtel later offered more of an explanation than an apology in response to Delaney’s remarks. Instead of outright condemning and apologizing for Delaney’s insulting words, they basically apologized for the audience’s stupidity— telling the audience members that if they were offended its because they didn’t understand.
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“The aim was to convey that for him, Games of Thrones was something very different for television in 2011 and that Emilia Clarke went from relatively unknown to one of the most recognised and most-loved actors in television and film,” they said.
“On behalf of Mr Delany, the Foxtel Group apologies if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offence.”
House of the Dragon cast member Steve Toussaint has also received abuse recently but instead, for the color of his skin.
“When they announced [my casting], one of the first things I saw on social media was a drawing of the character [from the books] next to a picture of me,” the actor, who’s also starred in Doctor Who and Line of Duty, recalled. “And then there was the racist abuse that came with that.”
In George R.R. Martin’s books, the Velaryon characters are described as having white skin and pale hair, while in the new TV adaptation, they’ve been reimagined as black nobles with dreadlocks.
“I kind of thought: ‘Oh, I get it.’ When we were criminals and pirates and slaves in the other show, you were OK with that,” Toussaint continued. “But as this guy is the richest [character] in the show and he’s a nobleman, now you have a problem with it. In House Of The Dragon [our colour] is just a given – I quite like that.”
Toussaint acknowledged that risk was involved in being so open about the racial abuse, but insisted it was important to speak out. “I don’t want this to be my story,” he added. “But I’m not going to deny that it happened. Because it does. It’s out there. And it should never be something that puts someone off from doing something they want to do.”
