BBC NEWS AFRICA - 12 MAY 2023 - NETFLIX SERIES ABOUT CLEOPATRA SPARKS CONTROVERSY

The release of Netflix's docudrama series African Queens: Cleopatra has sparked a controversy over the skin-tone of the lead actress.

But do we know the actual heritage of the Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt?

The BBC's Nyasha Michelle has spoken to British actress Adele James who plays Cleopatra in the series.

Produced and edited by Ameer Ahmed

BLACKWASHING IN OTHER FILMS AND SHOWS

James Bond (2022) - Talk of casting Idris Elba (proposed) as the British secret service spy.

Anne Boleyn (2021)  - Black English actress Jodie Turner-Smith played the Queen of England in a British TV series. Anne Boleyn was white and the second wife of King Henry VIII.

Saint Joan (2020) - Black New Yorker Condola Rashad played the French heroine Joan of Arc in a stage production of the tale set in the 15th century. In the play, Rashad is a gender non-confirming Joan.

Troy: Fall of a City (2018) - In the TV drama, Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War is played by black English actor David Gyasi.

The Hollow Crown (2012 - 2016) - Sophie Okonedo, a Nigerian-British actress, played Queen Margaret of Anjou in the Shakespearean TV adaptation. Margaret, of French descent, was Queen of England and married to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461.

Once Upon a Time (2011 - 2018) - The ABC series about fairytales features a black actor Sinqua Walls as Sir Lancelot. Lancelot is a British character who features as one of King Arthur's close companions and one of the greatest Knights of the Round Table. Arthur was a legendary king of Britain and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition. 

Robin Hood (2006 - 2009) - The BBC series featured black English actor David Harewood as Friar Tuck. Friar Tuck is one of the legendary Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood which was set in England's Sherwood Forest in the 15th century.

MEDIA INDEX

BBC NEWS - NETFLIX CLEOPATRA DOCUDRAMA 10 MAY 2023

BRISBANE TIMES - RADAR REVEALS POSSIBLE LOCATION CLEOPATRA'S TOMB 2009

BRITISH MUSEUM - CLEOPATRA, 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OF CANDACE, THEBES

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY - STUDY OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMY DNA 17 MAY 2017, RELATED TO MIDDLE EAST

CBC - CLEOPATRA OUTSMARTED EVERYONE, FEBRUARY 2021

CBS - WHY SOME EGYPTIANS ARE FUMING OVER NETFLIX'S BLACK CLEOPATRA

DAILY MAIL - ADELE JAMES BREAK SILENCE AS TO BLACKWASHING CLAIMS MAY 2023

DAILY MAIL - DEC 9 2024 KATHLENE MARTINEZ SEARCHING 20 YEARS MAKE SIGNIFICANT FIND

DISCOVERY MAGAZINE - JUNE 7 2023, WILL WE EVER FIND THE TOMB OF CLEOPATRA?

GREEK CITY TIMES - ARCHAEOLOGIST CLAIMS TO BE CLOSE TO DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA 2021

LIVESCIENCE - WHERE IS CLEOPATRA'S TOMB/PALACE JULY 2020

NATURE - STUDY 90 MUMMIES REVEALS ANCESTRY ANCIENT EGYPTIANS: MIDDLE EASTERN JUNE 2017

ROTTEN TOMATOES - CLEOPATRA CRITICS, SERIES 1 REVIEWS MAY 2023

SKY HISTORY - THE HIDDEN TOMB OF CLEOPATRA MARCH 2023

SKYE NEVILLE - PLASTIC FREE COMICS, WAITROSE BANS

SMITHSONIAN - MORE THAN HISTORIC SEDUCTIONS, REHABILITATED ELIZABETH TAYLOR, HOLLYWOOD ICON: 2010

SPECTATOR - THE TROUBLE WITH NETFLIX'S QUEEN CLEOPATRA 29 MAY 2023

THE CONVERSATION - WHY THE DISCOVERY OF CLEOPATRA'S TOMB COULD REWRITE HISTORY 2022

THE GUARDIAN - NETFLIX, NO NEED FOR WHITE ACTOR 10 MAY 2023

THE SUN - QUEEN CLEOPATRA'S TOMB, TAPOSIRIS MAGNA 2020

THE SUN - THE REICH STUFF: GLOBAL HUNT FOR HITLER'S LOST £20 BILLION NAZI GOLD HORDE APRIL 2021

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE - CLEOPATRA'S SUNKEN PALACE

USA TODAY - MUSTAFA WAZIRI, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS 2018

YOUTUBERS - MAKEUP, CLEOPATRA'S FACE & EYE COSMETICS, MUMMY MASK

YOUTUBERS - NETFLIX VIDEO COMMENTS MAY 2023

ZAHI HAWASS - DOCUMENTARY: CLEOPATRA VII PHILOPATOR

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-65574733

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12065875/Adele-James-breaks-silence-Queen-Cleopatra-blackwashing-claims.html

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/queen-cleopatra-actress-adele-james-says-claims-of-blackwashing-are-fundamentally-racist/ar-AA1b4dq6

CLONED REPLICANT - Using the latest technology in computer genome mapping and digital DNA splicing, an occult sect of scientists, reincarnate Cleopatra VII, who died in 30BC, having located and plundered her sarcophagus from its watery grave. The resurrected Pharaoh has to mesh with the modern world she's been reborn into, where the Fourth Reich harbour evil plans for her.  We are looking to build a team of artists for a series of John Storm graphic novels. Students and professionals, all welcome - if you like this style of illustration - and stories to amaze.

DOCUSERIES

Please use our Ancient Egyptian A-Z to navigate the antiquities on this site

  NETFLIX CONTROVERSY, ADELE JAMES IN JADA PINKETT SMITH'S DOCUSERIES ACCUSED OF AFROCENTRIC BLACKWASHING

The rights of Jameson Hunter and Cleaner Ocean Foundation to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. This website and the associated Cleopatra artwork is Copyright © 2023 Cleaner Ocean Foundation and Jameson Hunter. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors' imaginations, and any resemblance to any person, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.