#tfw people react to memes like karens

[thepromiscuousfinger]

Zahi Hawass, a prominent Egyptologist and former antiquities minister, told the al-Masry al-Youm newspaper: "This is completely fake. Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not black."

Mr Hawass said the only rulers of Egypt known to have been black were the Kushite kings of the 25th Dynasty (747-656 BC).

"Netflix is trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilisation is black," he added and called on Egyptians to take a stand against the streaming giant.

Jada Pinkett Smith, the American actress who was executive producer and narrator, was meanwhile quoted as saying: "We don't often get to see or hear stories about black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them!" (x)

When Hollywood goes out of their way to erase history because they can't accurately select a historically ethnic ruler for a documentary, why wouldn't that raise eyebrows?

Also this isn't the first time racebending Cleopatra has caused negative historical backlash in Hollywood because in 2020 Gal Gadot was reportedly casted for the lead role and would co-produce a Cleopatra film.