Netflix accused of ‘blackwashing’ Cleopatra: ‘She was light-skinned’

nypost.com:

previously explained that she wanted to be involved in the project because she “really wanted to represent Black women.”But Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, who previously served as the nation’s antiquities minister, is not happy with the “completely fake” portrayal of the famous queen, who he claims was wholly Greek — and “not black.” He’s accused Netflix of “trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilization is black.”“Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not black,” the archaeologist told the Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper, per a BBC report on Wednesday.In addition, lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a complaint Sunday with the country’s public prosecutor to demand that Netflix be blocked in Egypt, claiming they are trying to “promote the Afrocentric thinking … which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.”A petition titled “Cancel Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra'” has more than 3,200 signatures on Change.org.

Another petition for the cause that allegedly garnered 85,000 signatures was meanwhile removed from Change.org. The official trailer, which was released last week, stirred up so much controversy that its YouTube comments have been turned off.

The clip has over 2 million views. We know that Cleopatra was born in Alexandria in 69 B.C., and was the last ruler of a Macedonian Greek dynasty that began with Alexander the Great’s general Ptolemy.

And while the identity of Cleopatra’s mother is not known, it’s been speculated that she, as well as other female ancestors, may have been indigenous to Africa.Netflix previously addressed Cleopatra’s debatable racial background head-on, reminding viewers that in her time,.