Sue Perkins has issued an apology after misgendering Emma D’Arcy at the House of the Dragon season 2 premiere in London.
In a few days’ time, the latest season of the Game of Thrones spin-off show is set to premiere, complete with fiery dragons and bloody battles galore.
Emma returns as Rhaenyra Targaryen, who is facing war opposite Olivia Cooke’s Alicent Hightower and the other faction of the Targaryen family as both sides vie for the Iron Throne.
At the premiere that took place in London’s Leicester Square, former Great British Bake Off host Sue was speaking to Daemon Targaryen actor Matt Smith, shortly after chatting to Emma about their role.
During Sue’s conversation with Matt, the presenter referred to Emma as ‘she’, despite Emma being non-binary and using ‘they/them’ pronouns.
Former Doctor Who star Matt then corrected Sue’s error, praising Emma as he stated: ‘I have to say they are… aren’t they brilliant?’
While Matt, 41, was highly praised by fans for his correction, Sue, 54, also received criticism for the mistake.
One person on X going by the handle @bambigalitzine wrote: ‘It’s not hard to do research on the lead of a show before interviewing at the premiere of that show, in fact it’s absolutely the bare minimum that should be expected.’
Another called @uncledaddyism said that the situation was ‘awful and disrespectful’, while @hallolotte1 added: ‘How can you work in the media, interviewing people from a show who’s that successful and not do your homework? It’s not that hard to get someone’s pronouns right.’
Following the backlash, Sue addressed the mistake by apologising in a post shared on X, emphasising how much they admire Emma, 31.
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‘It was a s***ty mistake. Had loads of stuff going on in my earpiece and so wasn’t as focused as I should have been,’ the presenter said.
‘No excuses though. These things matter and I feel terrible about it. Am a massive fan of their work and would never want to be disrespectful x.’
In response to Sue’s apology, when X user called Jules wrote: ‘As someone who is misgendered on a regular basis, we get it. Mistakes are made.’
Sue then reiterated: ‘I’m sorry x,’ in reply.
Another person going by the handle @nyracult expressed their hope that the presenter will ‘apologise directly to Emma too’.
‘Of course I will,’ the TV personality promised.
At the premiere for House of the Dragon, Matthew Needham – who plays the mysterious and conniving Larys Strong in the series – revealed that there were scenes cut from season one that would have ‘fleshed out’ his character.
‘I really wanted this season to flesh him out a little bit more, just to show a few different sides to him. There was stuff in the first season that didn’t make it understandably,’ he told Metro.co.uk.
‘It’s like a 30-year time frame they’re trying to condense. I understand. But this season I really wanted to just show just a few more little different colours to him.’
House of the Dragon season 2 is set to premiere on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Monday June 17.
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