Beyonce banned from Pyramids for being “stupid and rude” to Egypt’s Indiana Jones

• Posted on November 28, 2013November 28, 2013
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

No-one keeps Zahi Hawass, the controversial archaeologist described as Egypt’s Indiana Jones, waiting. Not even Beyoncé.

Dr Hawass, Egypt’s former head of antiquities and gatekeeper of the Pyramids, banished Beyoncé from the ancient site after he was sickened by what he described as the star’s rudeness.

“Most people I take on tours are very nice and we become friends. But this lady…,” begins Hawass, the former Minister of State for Antiquities, who lost his post during the 2011 protests and is at the centre of corruption allegations over his work for National Geographic.

“She said she would come at 3pm but she came late. I said ‘You have to say I’m sorry I’m late’. But she didn’t open her mouth,” continued Dr Hawass, credited with modernizing the management of Egypt’s ancient sites and who claims to have repatriated 6,000 artefacts “stolen” by Western powers.

“I brought a photographer and she also had a photographer and a guard. When my photographer started to shoot, he said ‘No, Stop! I am the one who says yes or no, not you.’ I said ‘In that case since you almost hit my photographer and you are not polite – out! I am not giving you the privilege of having you on my tour.’ I said Beyoncé was stupid and I left.”

– UK Independent