The new trailer for Netflix’s upcoming documentary series Queen Cleopatra has rapidly become one of the streaming service’s most reviled trailers.
African Queens: Queen Cleopatra, a new Netflix docudrama, is already turning heads and generating controversy on social media.
The outcry on YouTube, in particular, has been so intense that the streaming giant has had to take drastic measures.
Watch Queen Cleopatra trailer:
Jada Pinkett Smith produced the upcoming TV show, Queen Cleopatra, saying she was excited since ‘we don’t often get to witness or hear stories of Black queens.’
It will follow Cleopatra, Egypt’s final pharaoh, as she struggles for her right to the throne, her family, and her lasting legacy.
Adele James, a British actor, has been cast in the title role, with Craig Russell scheduled to play her lover, Mark Anthony. Pinkett Smith also appears and serves as an executive producer.
The Queen Cleopatra trailer dropped online via Netflix last week (12 April), with a synopsis that reads, “Cleopatra’s heritage has been the subject of much academic debate, which has often been ignored by Hollywood.
“Now our series re-assesses this fascinating part of her story.”
Following the release of the teaser depicting Cleopatra’s life, there has been outrage on social media about the protagonist being depicted as a Black woman.
Cleopatra is said to have been of Macedonian Greek ancestry, according to ancient records.
“Despite not being ethnically Egyptian, Cleopatra embraced many of her country’s ancient customs and was the first member of the Ptolemaic line to learn the Egyptian language,” History.com says.
James expressed her thoughts on the casting decision on Twitter.
Following the criticism from the trailer, which has been viewed by 2.1 million people on YouTube and is still growing, Netflix has disabled the opportunity to comment.
The streaming provider has also erased and obscured the amount of ‘dislikes’ provided to the video.
While we don’t know how many people have thumbed it down today, we do know that 263,000 people disliked it the last time we checked.
Because of this bizarre fact, it is one of Netflix’s worst-rated and most-disliked trailers ever.
However, it falls short of the Harry and Meghan clip, panned by over 400,000 YouTube users when released in December 2022.
At the time of the release, it was reported that Netflix had blocked the dislike option on the documentaries trailer. It is now possible to like and dislike it.
