When Netflix cast a Black woman as Cleopatra in its 2023 docudrama African Queens, the backlash from Egypt went viral on social media and generated international headlines.
Was Cleopatra Black?
Netflix’s Answer Infuriates Egypt
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities rebuked the project’s creators. Egyptian lawyers sued to have the streaming service blocked in the country,and the director of the four-part series,
Tina Gharavi, came under vitriolic attack. Rise Communications quickly worked with Gharavi to defend her casting choice and to tell her side of the story with incisive language that cut directly to issues of race, identity and history.
Despite the furor, the series ranked No. 6 in Netflix’s Top Ten list.