Sue Perkins apologises for misgendering House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy: ‘I feel terrible’
Sue Perkins ‘feels terrible’ about misgendering House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy. (Getty)
Presenter Sue Perkins has issued an apology for accidentally misgendering House of the Dragon actor Emma D’Arcy.
At the House of the Dragon premiere in London earlier this week (10 June), renowned lesbian comic and former Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins interviewed the cast about season two, which drops on 16 June on Max in the US and Sky Atlantic and Now TV on 17 June in the UK.
While speaking to Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen in the critically acclaimed series, Perkins accidentally misgendered fellow star and Rhaenyra Targaryen actor Emma D’Arcy, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
“I was talking to Emma and she was saying… she was talking about how amazing that end scene was,” Perkins told former Doctor Who star Smith, referring to season one.
“She gave you all the credit,” Perkins added.
Smith proceeded to effortlessly correct Perkins’ pronoun use, saying: “I can’t take the credit, but I have to say, aren’t they brilliant?
“They are absolutely brilliant and you’re in for a real treat with Emma this year, I think Emma’s put in… a really great performance.”
Smith was widely praised on social media for using D’Arcy’s correct pronouns with ease.
Now, Sue Perkins has offered a heartfelt apology for the mistake, and promised to contact D’Arcy personally to make amends.
“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 comedian wrote on X/Twitter, after a fellow social media user accused her of not doing her research on D’Arcy’s pronouns.
“No excuses though,” she added. “These things matter and I feel terrible about it. Am a massive fan of their work and would never want to be disrespectful.”
After another person questioned whether the presenter would be apologising to D’Arcy privately, Perkins replied: “Of course I will.”
She then apologised to another social media user who said that being misgendered happens to them “on a regular basis”.
While some fans of the Game of Thrones spin-off welcomed Perkins’ apology, other gender-critical X/Twitter users took the opportunity to target the star for trying to make amends.
D’Arcy has previously spoken about feeling that they had to “pretend” to be a woman in order to initially succeed in their acting career.
House of the Dragon season two lands on Max on 16 June.
