A television company has issued an apology after its CEO branded Emilia Clarke "dumpy".
As reported by the Huffington Post, the comments were made during the Australian premiere of the new Game of Thrones prequel spin-off, House of the Dragon.
On Tuesday, Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany stood in front of a Sydney audience to introduce the first episode of the show, recalling his initial confusion over the original Game of Thrones series.
Addressing the crowd - which was mostly made up of members of the Australian media - Delany said: "I was like, 'What’s this show with the dumpy-looking girl who walks into the flames?'"
It is believed Delany is referring to the final episode of the first season of Game of Thrones, in which a naked Daenerys (played by Clarke) emerges from flames carrying her newly hatched dragons.
However, despite reportedly delivering the comment in a "jovial" manner, the remark did not go down well with those in attendance.
Speaking to Australian news outlet Crikey, one attendee said: "It felt like [Delany] was expecting us to laugh along but people in the room were obviously shocked by it."
"There was a bit of a gasp," a second said.
Additionally, once news of Delany's comment was reported online, social media users were also quick to criticize the CEO.
One Twitter user wrote: "A Television CEO describing Emilia Clarke as a 'short and dumpy girl' is a perfect illustration of the misogyny women are 'whining' about. If a gorgeous woman like her is getting slammed like that PUBLICLY, imagine how impossible it is for regular women PRIVATELY."
A second defender of Clarke tweeted: "Calling Emilia Clarke 'the short, dumpy girl' in front of me would have me going full Will Smith at the event for real."
Author EK Johnston added: "I will fully acknowledge that I am just overprotective of Emilia Clarke, but IMAGINE being a TV CEO at an event for a GoT spin-off, and the first adjective you can come up with for her is 'dumpy'. Men do not deserve these kind of positions or paycheques."
In response to the backlash to Delany's comments, Foxtel has released an apology.
Per The Guardian, a spokesperson for the company said: "On behalf of Mr Delany, the Foxtel Group apologizes if his remarks were misunderstood and caused any offense."
The spokesperson added that Delany's comments were intended to be "self-deprecating and lighthearted", before adding: "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.