TV CEO Insults Emilia Clarke And Fans Are Not Happy
After her groundbreaking role in Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke became a major star. She quickly became a fan favorite in the series. Even her controversial actions in the last season didn’t turn fans off of the character, or the actress.
That makes what a TV CEO said about her so shocking. This all happened at the premiere event for the Game of Thrones spinoff series House of Dragons, which hit HBO this past Sunday. However, when Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany called Clarke “dumpy,” fans were not happy.
Foxtel CEO calls Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke ‘dumpy’
Patrick Delany is the CEO of Foxtel, an Australian television company. According to his Linkedin account, he has been the CEO since January 2018 after working as the CEO of Fox Sports. He has worked in the television industry since 1998. That makes his comments at the premiere for a Game of Thrones spinoff series so bizarre.
Delany said that he was late to the Game of Thrones party and didn’t understand at first why it was so popular. To emphasize this, he said, “I was like, ‘What’s this show with the short, dumpy girl walking into the fire?’” This referred to Emilia Clarke and her character, Daenerys Targaryen.
The Australian news site Crikey spoke to some attendees at the event, many of who showed shock at the crass comments about Clarke’s physical appearance. “It felt like he was expecting us to laugh along, but people in the room were obviously shocked by it,” one person said. A second responded, “There was a bit of a gasp.” On Twitter, film critic Travis Johnson wrote, “Yeah, I was there for this, and turned to my mate for clarification as I simply didn’t believe someone would say that on mic.”
Foxtel apologizes to Emilia Clarke
However, Foxtel Group tried to swing his comments as self-deprecating and not meant to insult Emilia Clarke. “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,” the company said in a statement. “On behalf of Mr. Delany, the Foxtel Group apologises if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offence.”
Fans rip into Patrick Delany for his comments
Fans flooded to social media to blast Patrick Delany for his crass comments about Emila Clarke.
“Why is it that someone (that looks) like @PatrickDelany feel that it’s ok to make derogatory references to one of the greatest women of our time,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Emilia Clarke was an unknown actress playing an unknown character and she made her infinitely iconic. What would your wife say?”
A second wrote, “Imagine insulting Emilia Clarke. She’s legit like the sweetest celebrity ever if you watch even one of her interviews. The woman is impossible to dislike.”
Legendary author Joyce Carol Oates also chimed in on the comment, writing, “every man who insults a woman by commenting on her physical appearance should be very closely scrutinized by masses of people, his likeness magnified, every flaw & cruelty exposed for commentary. it’s like police brutality–they will do it, as long as they can get away with it.”
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