Xuenou > Celebrity > “Queen Cleopatra” Was Accused Of “Blackwashing” — Here’s How Actor Adele James Responded
“Queen Cleopatra” Was Accused Of “Blackwashing” — Here’s How Actor Adele James Responded
"Queen Cleopatra" Was Accused Of "Blackwashing" — Here's How Actor Adele James Responded,"I find it sad that people are either so self-loathing or so threatened by Blackness that they feel the need to do that, to separate Egypt from the rest of the continent."

“Queen Cleopatra” Was Accused Of “Blackwashing” — Here’s How Actor Adele James Responded

Queen Cleopatra is one of the biggest shows on Netflix right now.


Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities / Via Facebook: tourismandantiq

A lawyer in Egypt also sued Netflix for casting Adele as Cleopatra, stating that Netflix is guilty of “Afrocentrism,” and others have used the term “blackwashing.”

Netflix

“Whitewashing” is essentially when white actors portray BIPOC characters, so one can deduce the meaning of “blackwashing.”

Egyptian writer Bassem Youssef told Piers Morgan that the show falsifies Egyptian history and is ultimately cultural appropriation.


Netflix

Now, Adele has responded to the backlash on an episode of The Wayne Ayers Podcast. “Blackwashing isn’t a thing, is it?” Adele said.

Netflix

“I find it sad that people are either so self-loathing or so threatened by Blackness that they feel the need to do that, to separate Egypt from the rest of the continent,” she continued.

Netflix

The producers have only spoken about the controversy and backlash surrounding the show in a statement on their Netflix Tudum site. “Her ethnicity is not the focus of Queen Cleopatra, but we did intentionally decide to depict her of mixed ethnicity to reflect theories about Cleopatra’s possible Egyptian ancestry and the multicultural nature of Ancient Egypt.”

Netflix

There you have it. You can stream Queen Cleopatra on Netflix and listen to Adele’s podcast interview here.