Egypt’s Council of Antiquities Wades Into Netflix Cleopatra Row; Org’s Head Denies Backlash Driven By Racism

deadline.com:

Egypt’s Supreme Council Of Antiquities (SCA) has added its voice to the row over the portrayal of Cleopatra as a Black woman in Netflix’s upcoming docudrama Queen Cleopatra.

The casting of actress Adele James, who is of mixed heritage, as the iconic Ancient Egypt ruler has caused a furore in Egypt where the subject of Cleopatra’s ethnicity is a sensitive subject.

The show, which is executive produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, is due to launch on Netflix on May 10. The 160-year-old SCA, which is responsible for Egypt’s cultural heritage and all its archaeological sites, put out a press release on Thursday giving its reaction to the portrayal of Cleopatra with “African features and dark skin”. “The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities confirms that Queen Cleopatra had light skin and Hellenistic (Greek) features,” the body said in the statement posted on the website of Egypt’s Ministry of Culture and Antiquities.

The statement will likely add fuel to the backlash against the film, which prompted calls for Netflix to be banned and a petition bannered “Stop the Cleopatra Documentary on Netflix due to historical falsification”, which has garnered some 40,000 signatures.