Emilia Clarke was called ‘short and fat’ at the House of The Dragon premiere

have you heard of Emilia Clarke? Of course yes. And given everything we know about the acclaimed actress, what words would we use to describe her? Talent, perhaps? Or directly inspiring? Yes, that too. But you know that thing where a talented woman achieves something amazing because of her work and her ability and then a man reduces her to nothing more than fodder for the male gaze to comment on? If that. Well that’s exactly what happened to clarke and we despair.

According to the Australian media CrikeyPatrick Delany, CEO of the Australian television company Foxtel (in short, someone who should know better), made these comments during a speech at the premiere of the long-awaited film in Sydney. House of Dragonsthe prequel to the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Before the first episode premiered to an audience of about 200 in Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter, Delany recalled why it took her so long to start watching. game of Thrones when it originally premiered: “I said to myself, ‘What is this series with the short girl and fat woman What goes into the fire?’

Fortunately, and rightly so, the comment – which we can only assume was a bizarre and ill-judged attempt at a joke – went down as badly at the event as it seems to have with the public, as those attending the screening reported that the response to his comment was “cold”. According to Vanity Fair, there was a gasp after the insult, curious, isn’t it? And one of the attendees said to Crikey: “It seemed that he expected us to laugh, but the people in the room were obviously surprised by it.”

And while Delany didn’t mention Clarke by name, since her iconic character, Daenerys Targaryen, walks through fire during the series, it’s pretty clear who he was referring to.