An Egyptian team consisting of several jurists and archaeologists demanded financial compensation worth two billion dollars from Netflix for distorting the image of Queen Cleopatra and ancient Egyptian civilization.
A letter submitted by the team to UNESCO stated that Egypt has the right to an initial compensation of two billion dollars for distorting the “Egyptian identity”.
The letter said Egypt also has the right to take legal measures to preserve the tangible and intangible Egyptian heritage, whether ancient or modern.
Netflix aired a controversial documentary film about Queen Cleopatra VII where the ancient Egyptian queen was represented as black, backing Afrocentric claims that the ancient Egyptian civilization was of black origin.
Hawass answers back protesters
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said that during one of his lectures in Los Angeles, he was protested by people objecting to his refusal to consider Cleopatra being black.
They carried banners with slogans against him, he said, adding that they had fallen for false information.
During a phone interview with “Hadith al-Qahira” (Cairo Talk) talk show on the “al-Qahira wal Nas” (Cairo and the People) channel, Hawass stressed “We are not against blacks, and if the same situation happened with the continent of Asia, I would object to them.”
He emphasized that Cleopatra was burgundy in color, and not dark-skinned, and this a fallacy bought into by African Americans.
Hawass pointed out that “our film, which we released about Cleopatra, also received international attention, and this film responded strongly to the whole world.”
Lawsuit after lawsuit
Legal adviser and attorney of the Culture Minister, Essam Khalaf, submitted a complaint with the Public Prosecution against the Netflix platform in Egypt for committing several violations due to the release of the documentary film “Queen Cleopatra.”
Khalaf demanded that the movie be canceled from the Netflix platform and permanently prevented from being shown.
In his lawsuit Khalaf accused the platform of allowing the series to be shown without obtaining approvals for reviewing the artistic idea and the way it is embodied, not obtaining the approval of the Antiquities and Culture ministries regarding the embodiment of a historical Egyptian figure, and not obtaining a permit to film works containing archaeological features in Egypt.
Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary previously filed a case with the Public Prosecutor to shut down the Netflix platform in Egypt, following the trailer release of “Queen Cleopatra. ” A new documentary depicting the historical figure as a black woman.
The Egyptian lawyer has demanded that serious legal action be taken against those responsible for the making of the documentary. He blamed the Netflix management team for its participation in “this crime”.
Critically panned
Netflix’s “Queen Cleopatra” documentary has received the worst audience rating ever in TV show history on Rotten Tomatoes, according to a Forbes report. The series got a one percent audience approval rate due to the great turnout of Egyptians to express their anger at its falsification of history, Forbes reported. The Netflix film about the story of Cleopatra made her appear dark-skinned as if her origins were African and not Macedonian.
