--- title: Emilia Clarke Explains the 'Game of Thrones' Coffee Cup description: Emilia Clarke has officially spilled the beans on which 'Game of Thrones' cast member was the culprit of coffee cup-gate. canonical: https://time.com/5715146/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-emilia-clarke/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-31T16:14:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:00.721Z og:title: Emilia Clarke Spills the Beans on the 'Game of Thrones' Mystery Coffee Cup og:description: There's a Game of Thrones feud brewing og:url: https://time.com/5715146/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-emilia-clarke/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09cd1fd75cc87291/698a0524457a529297d6304a/emilia-clarke-game-of-thrones-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: "Last Christmas" New York Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Emilia Clarke Spills the Beans on the 'Game of Thrones' Mystery Coffee Cup twitter:description: There's a Game of Thrones feud brewing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09cd1fd75cc87291/698a0524457a529297d6304a/emilia-clarke-game-of-thrones-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Emilia Clarke Spills the Beans on the Mystery Culprit Solely Responsible for the _Game of Thrones_ Coffee Cup Cameo > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Oct 31, 2019 4:14 PM UTC  Emilia Clarke attends the "Last Christmas" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on October 29, 2019 in New York City. Emilia Clarke attends the "Last Christmas" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on October 29, 2019 in New York City. Roy Rochlin—Getty Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Oct 31, 2019 4:14 PM UTC [Emilia Clarke](https://time.com/5651886/last-christmas-movie-emilia-clarke/) has officially spilled the beans on which [_Game of Thrones_](https://time.com/5683955/emmys-2019-kit-harington-sophie-turner-hug/)cast member was [the culprit of coffee cup-gate](https://time.com/5583758/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-mistake/). It was undeniably the most infamous anachronism in all of [Westeros](https://time.com/5588852/game-of-thrones-last-watch-documentary-trailer/) when a Starbucks cup inadvertently appeared in episode 4 of the [HBO series’ final season](https://time.com/5713346/game-of-thrones-prequel-cancelled/). Placed on the table in front of [Daenerys](https://time.com/5678300/game-of-thrones-ramin-djawadi-daenerys-death/) (Clarke) and most visible while [Tormund](https://time.com/5575272/game-of-thrones-tormund-reactions/) (Kristofer Hivju) and [Jon Snow](https://time.com/5589654/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-azor-ahai-prophecy/) ([Kit Harington](https://time.com/5597140/game-of-thrones-kit-harington-reaction-meme/)) are chatting, the cup immediately took the world by storm when the episode premiered in May. > [](https://twitter.com/zane/status/1125289538845327361) But [the Mad Queen](https://time.com/5587311/daenerys-mad-queen-game-of-thrones/) revealed the truth Wednesday night on _The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon._ She says it was all Conleth Hill’s fault. Apparently Hill, who plays Varys, recently told Clarke his big secret. “‘The coffee cup was mine,'” Clarke said Hill told her at an Emmys party. “He might have been drunk, but he said it.” [Sophie Turner](https://time.com/5697376/sophie-turner-slams-influencers/) had previously placed all the blame on Clarke, though, in [her own appearance on _Fallon_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG1nWuYFkTM). “I mean, look who it’s placed in front of: Emilia Clarke,” the Queen of the North said in May, soon after the episode broke the internet. “She’s the culprit.” While [HBO](https://time.com/5711058/his-dark-materials-hbo-review/) went along with the joke at the time, releasing in a statement that “Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea,” the show’s stars were quick to point fingers. There is still no proof in this ongoing investigation, but Fallon seems to be playing an increasingly important investigative role. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5715146/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-emilia-clarke/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5715146/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-emilia-clarke/"},"headline":"Emilia Clarke Spills the Beans on the Mystery Culprit Solely Responsible for the Game of Thrones Coffee Cup Cameo","datePublished":"2019-10-31T16:14:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:00.721Z","description":"Emilia Clarke has officially spilled the beans on which 'Game of Thrones' cast member was the culprit of coffee cup-gate.","url":"https://time.com/5715146/game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-emilia-clarke/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09cd1fd75cc87291/698a0524457a529297d6304a/emilia-clarke-game-of-thrones-cup.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. 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