Game of Thrones Fan Raises $45K for Emilia Clarke's Charity to Make Amends for Finale Petition
A second viral Game of Thrones fan campaign has been started — but this one isn’t asking the writers to redo the final season.
In response to the “backlash” created by a Change.org petition that surfaced in May, urging HBO to “remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers,” a Reddit user from the same community that created the rewrite petition — subreddit r/freefolk — started a fundraiser to support star Emilia Clarke‘s charity SameYou.
Clarke, 32, created the charity to raise money for people recovering from brain injuries and strokes. In March, the actress revealed that she underwent two life-saving brain surgeries over the last eight years to correct two different aneurysm growths.
The fundraiser description began by praising Clarke’s Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen, and then referenced the “infamous” redo petition.
RELATED: Nearly 1M Game of Thrones Fans Sign Petition Calling for Final Season Redo by ‘Competent Writers’
“Since the tongue-in-cheek nature of that petition has flown over a lot of peoples’ heads, to the point that it’s prompted backlash from some of the cast, we wanted to show that Game of Thrones fans appreciate the hard work of the incredible cast & crew despite their constraints,” the description read.
The fundraiser continued: “As a gesture of love and support from the fandom to the entire cast & crew — but also particularly to the woman who poured her very soul into her character who… inspired so many of us with her resilience — I am setting up this page as a public support of her charity, SameYou.”
RELATED: Emilia Clarke Reveals She Underwent 2 Life-Saving Brain Surgeries Following a 2011 Aneurysm
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the creator of the fundraiser explained that she started the it to show Clarke that Game of Thrones fans “stand by” Daenerys despite her character’s controversial arc in the final season — echoing previous comments made by the actress.
In the final two episodes, Clarke’s character burned down a city and killed thousands of innocent people, poised to become a dictator. In the end, her lover Jon Snow (Kit Harington) stabbed her to death.
After the series finale aired, Clarke told EW that, even though she was shocked by her character’s choices in the final season, “I stand by Daenerys. I stand by her! I can’t not.”
As of Wednesday morning, the fundraiser had already raised almost $45,500. To learn more about the fundraiser, and to donate, click here.
