Amid criticism that Fox’s new Moses sword and sandal epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is too white, 21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter to put cynics in their place. The film, directed by Ridley Scott, stars British actor Christian Bale as Moses, Australian thespian Joel Edgerton as Rhamses, Emmy winner Aaron Paul as Joshua, Sigourney Weaver as Tuya and John Turturro as Seti among many others.
Baffled by the outcry over Exodus’s white cast, Murdoch first tweets:
“Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.” That comment triggered a locust swarm, such as these jabs back at the CEO:
“More diversity doesn’t come from all white casting @rupertmurdoch. That’s not how this works.” Prompting Rupert to say:
“Everybody-attacks last tweet. Of course Egyptians are Middle Eastern, but far from black. They treated blacks as slaves.”
