Emilia Clarke, one of the most loved actors to grace television screens, was the recent snub of a joke that didn’t go as planned at the prequel series, House of the Dragon’s launch in Australia.
Clarke, who famously played Daenerys Targaryen on one of the most-watched shows of all time, Game of Thrones, was recently called a “dumpy-looking girl” by Foxtel’s chief executive, Patrick Delany in an attempt to make a joke about how the show surprisingly hooked him.
In his speech, he shared that when he first started GoT, he thought “What’s this show with the dumpy-looking girl who walks into the flames?”
The Foxtel CEO had likely been expecting laughs with the commentary, however, as some attendees shared, the take was met with more of a gasp.
The thing about self-deprecating jokes is that they only really work when you’re taking a jab at yourself, not someone else.
Foxtel, a television subscription company, has since apologised for the ordeal, with a spokesperson for the company sharing to Crikey that the comments were meant to be self-deprecating and light-hearted.
“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,”
“On behalf of Mr Delany, the Foxtel Group apologises if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offence.”
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FEATURE IMAGE: @emilia_clarke/Instagram
