African Queens: Queen Cleopatra played by British actress Adele James. Photo: BBC
A Netflix docudrama series that depicts Queen Cleopatra VII as a black African has sparked controversy in Egypt.
A lawyer has filed a complaint that accuses African Queens: Queen Cleopatra of violating media laws and aiming to erase the Egyptian identity.
BBC says top archaeologist insisted Cleopatra was light-skinned, not black.
The trailer was released last week and many Egyptians condemned the depiction of Cleopatra
But the producer said her heritage is highly debated and the actress playing cleopatra told critics: not to watch the show, if they don’t like it.
Adele James made the comment in a tweet featuring screengrabs of abusive comments that included racist slurs.
Cleopatra was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 69 BC and became the last queen of a Greek-speaking dynasty founded by Alexander the Great’s Macedonian general Ptolemy.
Writing by Chinasa Ossai; Editing by Annabel Nwachukwu