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UPDATE 8:30 PM: The controversy over the use of a prosthetic George W. Bush head as a prop in beheading scenes on the hit HBO fantasy series Game Of Thrones led to both HBO and the series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss issuing apologies tonight, following criticism by Republican leaders. It is unclear whether the image would be edited out of future GOT rebroadcasts on HBO and on-demand but that appears likely.
HBO: We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste. We made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this inadvertent careless mistake. We are sorry this happened and will have it removed from any future DVD production.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss: 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, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush.
In the DVD commentary, we mentioned this, though we should not have. We meant no disrespect to the former President and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise.
PREVIOUS 5:30 PM: In a classic case of “What were they thinking?!,” scenes from the first season of HBO’s fantasy series Game Of Thrones featured the decapitated head of former President George W. Bush. The inappropriate prop use would’ve likely gone unnoticed if not for the series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who drew attention to it on the Game Of Thrones Season One DVD boxed set when commenting on a scene from Episode 10 where the Bush head in a filthy long wig and covered with mud is one of several positioned on spikes when King Joffrey (Jack Gleason) takes Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) to show her the severed head of her father. “The last head on the left is George Bush,” the two say. “George Bush’s head appears in a couple of beheading scenes. It’s not a choice, it’s not a political statement. We just had to use whatever heads we had lying around…”
RELATED: Edited George W. Bush Head On ‘Game of Thrones’
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Oh, behave you thin-skinned polarized nitwits!
So what if it was Bush’s head?
I would prefer a real bozo like Adam Sandler, but they had a Bush in stock, and they used it for a giggle.
You don’t honestly believe Bush himself wouldn’t have a laugh about that, do you?
From all I’ve seen, George has a pretty good sense of humor (unlike some of his rabid followers!).
If they had put my head on a spike I’d have shot them in the face with my hunting rifle so go right ahead boys make my day.
Smart guys, dumb move.
Ur not the only one! Lol
Like we don’t have enough tempests in a teapot this week. It is unlikely the producers would deliberately put a Bush head in a scene as it would detract from the reality they are spending millions to create. And if did happen on purpose…well for the love of Christ who gives a flying fuck?
Had huge respect for this show (although the nudity at times can be pretty extreme)… But this head thing wasn’t just bad, it’s really juvenile.
To the producers of GOT, I valued your talent quite highly and greatly respect the show you create. Alas, you are still just juvenile film-makers who seem incapable of taking the next step.
I’m sure the liberal circles will love you, but I thought you were better than just another political hack. Greatly disappointing.
I think you hurt their feelings.
Hahaha. Thanks to everybody for reaffirming my belief that conservatives are idiots. Nobody would have been the weiser to this “political statement” if they hadn’t mentioned it in the DVD commentary. Can anybody seriously tell that it’s Bush’s head? I know you guys like to Getty all worked up over nothing, but this is really a stupid non-stop issue. Shouldn’t you all be winning about Obama’s birth certificate or something?
The finale was weak and this was the preverbal straw that made me take this show off DVR. I despise Obama and even he doesn’t deserve such disrespect. GW.Bush is a very nice, classy guy, and what these despicable producers did invokes a public backlash like no other.
Funny, he’s not so “classy” to all the innocent Iraqis he killed.
As a left of center person and someone who loathes President George W. Bush, it’s still not right to depict a President’s head on a pike. If it were Obama or Clinton people would freak the f out. But, I do understand the needs of production, but they should not have mentioned it if they REALLY wanted to get away with it or if it was not a stunt.
You are ridiculous. They shoot in the middle of no where and if it even gave them a lil giggle with no political agenda… Who the eff cares. Barely looks like him anyway. He is probably flattered. Blech
Just have another head that kinda similar to the current President if it’s apolitical. It’s not like another head in that environment would change the environment. I remember thinking it was odd they focused on a head that didn’t look like any of the cast.
Words are nice but actions count.
HBO just needs to shut down the show. This is unacceptable. Such disrespect cannot be tolerated. The show is already indecent enough as it is. This just crosses the line. Cancel the show, HBO. Please.
No. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. Let the market decide.
Give me a fucking break.
HBO is LUCKY to have a show like GoT on their network. Not to mention, it’s a huge hit for them. You think they’re going to cancel a show based on one producer’s lapse of judgment?
People need to move on from these non-stories. It was one guy’s tasteless joke.
But if there is one thing that conservatives are undoubtedly the best at, is fake outrage. You think they would get all up in arms about this if it was Obama’s likeness?
Everyones getting way too into this. It was clearly not meant to mean anything, the only shot is from the side and they but a wig on it, you would never have known it was W’s head if they hadn’t mentioned it on the commentary.
NO one misses bush. Remember, he created the economic debacle we’re now in. And he was asleep at the wheel while letting terrorists attack America on 9/11.
That said, this is silly.
Winter is coming… to D.C.
Doesn’t seem like a big deal. Its not like they laughed about it on the commentary or anything.
Feel bad for anyone who stops watching GOT over this. Sort of.
This is funny. Get over it. A prosthetic head costs thousands of dollars and takes weeks to manufacture. No production would spend this kind of time or money to make a political point. And if they did spend the time and money, don’t you think they would have had it facing toward camera and not obscured by a wig? They invited controversy by pointing it out in the DVD but when the set decorator showed up with a bag full of heads, it could just as easily have been a bust of Elvis or David Beckham. Republicans, you bore me with your fake outrage. You don’t really care about this. You just want to point at Hollywood and shout ‘Unpatriotic!’ In a crowded theater. It’s getting old.
Thanks HBO for making my DVD set more valuable
The original commentary specifically says it was one of many heads laying around and the hair is obviously trying to disguise it. I agree, this would never had been an issue if the commentary hadn’t mentioned it. It’s a non-issue.
Frankly, I couldn’t care if it was the Queen’s fake noggin up there.
Why isn’t anyone asking the obvious – what was the original production for which the severed Bushhead was built? Stone’s W? The ‘That’s My Bush’ sitcom?
Also, hasn’t the commentary been in release since early March? Why the sudden stink about it now?
What really blows me away about this is that someone listened to a DVD commentary.
Wow! You guys in the States really make a huge fuss over nothing.
It’s a fake head people.
I could care less if it was Bush, Obama, The Pope or anyone else.
Are you people serious with all this bipartisan bullshit? It’s a freaking prosthetic head that nobody noticed until people heard the commentary on the DVDs. It’s not a damn political statement and even if it was, nobody freaking noticed until they stupidly pointed it out themselves. I don’t care if it was the prosthetic head of Bush, Chaney, Clinton, Obama, or even Whitney Houston, its a prop, a PROP! Stop trying to make every single little thing about devisive politics, its pathetic and frankly beneath us all. We live in the 21st century for god’s sake, we’re better than this!