Today, a clip from Comic-Con 2011 resurfaced, featuring Jason Momoa making a terrible joke about rape. He was still on Game Of Thrones at the time, playing barbarian warlord Khal Drogo, and he explained that he likes working in sci-fi and fantasy because “there are so many things you can do, like rip someone’s tongue out of their throat and get away with it and rape beautiful women.” As seen in the clip, the comment got a predictable mixture of laughs and shocked glances from the audience and the rest of the Game Of Thrones cast. With all of this Harvey Weinstein (and Roy Price and Donald Trump) shit going on, people are particularly attuned to rape culture and the prevalence of men who can somehow get away with acting like monsters, so the “joke” is being received a lot worse now than it was then. (It comes at about 40:30 in this video.)
Momoa has now shared a statement on his joke, calling it “distasteful” and offering his “sincerest apology” for the “hurtful words.” He also adds that he knows rape can impact anyone’s life, and he’s “seen firsthand its painful torment” among his friends and family.