House of the Dragon is pretty much making it out to be Rhaenyra’s story, and on the opposite end on the throne is the usurper Aegon Targaryen played by Tom Glynn-Carney. While actors getting harassed by people online isn’t a new thing when it comes to huge fandoms (unfortunately), Glynn-Carney has released a statement on his IG to urge people to stop harassing his loved ones.
This was his post (via @westerosies):
Tom Glynn-Carney shares a message on his Instagram story regarding the harassment his friends and family are facing due to him portraying King Aegon II Targaryen in ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON.’
“It has been brought to my attention that there are messages being sent to my friends and… pic.twitter.com/PK5i2P8GCZ
— westerosies (@westerosies) October 23, 2024
We don’t know if this is going to stop anyone from harassing Glynn-Carney’s family, but it at least puts the spotlight on a very real thing that happens in fandoms when actors who play characters that fans don’t like get bullied online. Fans have been doing it since The Phantom Menace, and the act has only gotten more lucrative since then, with multiple Youtube channels dedicated solely to spreading toxicity and promoting bigotry in specific fandoms—like the Star Wars communities.
There has been a recent calling out of the huge companies like Disney for taking responsibility for this harassment, and so far the only solution they’ve come up with was to give actors a ‘social media bootcamp’ as well as offer to completely take over a performers’ social media.
Any act outright condemning the fandom for racism/bullying is usually done personally by the actors. Here’s what Ewan McGregor did when fans were attacking his Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram:
The next season of House of the Dragon is expected to come to HBO in 2026.
