Adele James, the title actress behind the controversial Netflix series "Queen Cleopatra," spoke out against her critics while appearing on "The Wayne Ayers Podcast" Wednesday.
The docu-drama series along with James came under fire since its first trailer released on April 12 revealed that the historical figure would be depicted as a Black woman. Several historians and Egyptian critics criticized this series, pointing out that Cleopatra was likely not Black and, as the last Ptolemy leader, may have instead had Greek or Macedonian descent. Because of this, people have excused the series of "blackwashing" the figure.
James pushed back against this particular accusation, denying the series is controversial for showing Cleopatra as Black.
"Black-washing isn’t a thing, is it," she joked with Ayers regarding the criticism.
James acknowledged that some of the show’s critics included Egyptians as well. However, she claimed that these critics were likely motivated by "self-loathing" or feeling "threatened by Blackness."
"It’s just upsetting. 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. I think it’s even more important that we’re telling this story the way that we are because actually we don’t know. It’s a big question mark. Was she mixed race? Was she not? She wasn’t Black, we know that, but she might have been part Black absolutely," James said.
She added, "That’s absolutely within the confines of, you know, within the realm of possibility based on the academic research. If people don’t want to engage with that, that research, the expert research, that’s not really a ‘me’ problem, that’s kind of a ‘them’ problem. You know, we’ve done our research. It’s out there."
After the trailer debuted, Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a lawsuit against the series and Netflix. Al-Semary called for an investigation into the company’s management, a block on the streaming service from the company and a ban on any broadcast depicting a distorted view of Egyptian identity.
NETFLIX’S ‘QUEEN CLEOPATRA’ ADAPTATION SUED BY EGYPTIAN LAWYER: A ‘FORGERY’
James considered the lawsuit "funny" and an "extreme reaction" rooted in racism.
"I think it’s quite funny, the level of threat that you must feel just on my skin tone to file a lawsuit against an entire streaming service. That, to me, is, it really is extreme. It’s a really extreme reaction, and it’s 100% fundamentally rooted in racism which is a very modern ideology," James said. "The ancient Egyptians, they don’t think about race the way that we do because race really has only been contextualized as we understand it since the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. It just doesn’t…that’s just not how people thought back then, right? So, it’s really bizarre, but to me, it’s, against I find it very sad. I feel sad for them."
The actress maintained that she has received "international support" for the series, though the creators knew that they would "ruffle some feathers" with the depiction.
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"We did our research. It’s a docu-drama for goodness’ sake, so I don’t really feel the need to, like, defend the show anymore," James said.
The series officially debuted on Netflix on Wednesday.
