Entertainment

HBO ‘dismayed’ by ‘unacceptable’ use of decapitated Bush head in ‘Game of Thrones’

Samantha Schnurr Contributor
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HBO couldn’t save George W. Bush’s head, but it is working hard to save its own.

The cable network and the creators of fantasy series “Game of Thrones” issued apologies for using Bush’s face on a decapitated head during an episode.

“We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste,” HBO said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

The appearance of Bush’s head on set was first disclosed in the DVD commentary for the episode. The series’ creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, said Bush’s likeness was used out of necessity rather than to make a political statement.

“We had to use what heads we had lying around,” said the creators during the DVD commentary.

Benioff and Weiss, although apologetic, defended their decision to include the prop during filming.

“We can’t afford to have these [props] all made from scratch, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk,” the creators said in a statement.

Perhaps the series creators will keep their heads screwed on a little tighter when making future prop decisions.

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