Netflix's decision to cast a mixed-race actress as Cleopatra sparked controversy and accusations of racism, bringing attention to the ongoing debates around representation and politics in the Middle East and beyond.

A controversy over a Netflix docudrama about Cleopatra escalated last week, when the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities asserted that Cleopatra was fair-skinned. The statement capped two weeks of debate about her ethnicity, after Netflix cast a mixed-race British actress in the leading role for “Queen Cleopatra.”