Celebrity
Emilia Clarke Called ‘Short And Dumpy’ At ‘House of the Dragon’ Premiere
“There was a bit of a gasp.”
Emilia Clarke looked gorgeous on the red carpet to the premiere of “House of Dragon” but was probably barely able to keep her expression when Patrick Delany, CEO of Australia’s Foxtel TV company, called her a “short and dumpy” actress.
An Aussie news outlet reported that Delaney spoke of the actress, “I was like, ‘What’s this show with the short, dumpy girl walking into the fire?’”
Crikey’s report continued, “It felt like he was expecting us to laugh along but people in the room were obviously shocked by it.”
Another added that “there was a bit of a gasp” amongst the audience.
It was truly an awkward moment as his supposedly joking remark did not age well.
Sydney Morning Herald reported that Sarah Hanson-Young, the senator and spokesperson for arts of Greens remarked the comment “went down like a lead balloon.”
“[It’s] not just out of place in modern Australia, but with a strong theme of the new series being the fight for women’s leadership, and with such strong female leads, it seemed particularly odd.”
“The show itself was great – the story of strong, young women taking on the old, entitled boys’ club is on point.”
Film critic Travis Johnson tweeted a similar opinion as he was also in disbelief that the CEO had made such a comment on stage.
Foxtel’s spokesperson has released an apology statement for Delany’s remark, which reads, “The Foxtel Group apologies if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offense. 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 recognized and most-loved actors in television and film.”
The 35-year-old has become a world-renowned actress for her role in HBO’s hit series ‘Game of Thrones’ from 2011 until 2019.
The new movie will be a prequel, set 200 years before the main show, and tells the story of the House of Targaryen. The 10-episode show that main cast Matt Smith remarks as having “slightly too much” explicit scene also stars Olivia Cooke, Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Milly Alcock, and Rhys Ifan.
