Patrick Delaney is the CEO of Australian pay television company Foxtel, who has done unfavorable comments on Emilia in Sydney on August 16.
At a screening of the prequel series House of the Dragon, Emilia Clarke was insulted by the Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany who described her as a “short, dumpy girl” which was shocking to the audience.
“I was like, ‘What’s this show with the short, dumpy girl walking into the fire?'” Delany said. The attendees confirmed the statement.
“It felt like he was expecting us to laugh along but people in the room were obviously shocked by it,” one attendee told Crikey.
Travis Johnson also confirmed the news on Twitter, by tweeting, “Yeah, I was there for this, and turned to my mate for clarification as I simply didn’t believe someone would say that on the mic.”
After a day, Foxtel’s spokesperson said, “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,” they continued.
On behalf of Mr. Delany, the Foxtel Group apologizes if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offense,” they concluded.
Daenerys Targaryen was originally played by the actress Tamzin Merchant but when the show was picked up by HBO then she was replaced by Emilia.