Right-wingers are losing their heads over a new revelation about the props used on Game of Thrones.
During the HBO hit's season one finale, a row of decapitated heads are displayed as a warning to potential traitors. In the lineup? Two deceased characters, Ned Stark and Septa Mordane, although one sticks out above the rest — a head that looks remarkably like that of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.
On the show's DVD commentary, show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss point out the gory accessory. "People may not have noticed this but back up. . . the last head on the left is George Bush," one of the creators explains in a voiceover, adding that, "George Bush's head appears in a couple of beheading scenes."
As if to attempt to stave off any future backlash, the showrunners are quick to explain themselves. "It's not a choice. It's not a political statement," they share. "It's just . . . we had to use what heads we had lying around."
Still, complaints began rolling in — with some viewers hoping to see some other heads roll (metaphorically speaking, of course!) This week, HBO released a statement addressing the graphic prop choice. "We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste," the network said. "We made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this inadvertent careless mistake. We are sorry this has happened and will have it removed from any future DVD production."
Benioff and Weiss apologized as well.
"We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc. We can't afford to have these all made from scratch . . . so we rent them in bulk," they explained in a statement. "After that scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush . . . We meant no disrespect to the former president and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise."
