After Sunday’s episode of The History Channel’s new mini series “The Bible,” social media was launched into a full on frenzy including trending topics such as #ObamaIsNotSatan, which trended on Monday.
Was the History Channel’s Satan modeled on Obama? ti.me/136o60m (via @timeculture)
— TIME.com (@TIME) March 19, 2013
@ginaphillipssnn The actor playing Satan has an eerily uncanny resemblance to President Obama; yikes.
— Jon Hammond (@JonHammond7) March 19, 2013
But, the show started gaining attention even before the episode aired when conservative commentator Glen Beck took notice of the Obama look-a-like, actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni. He made sure to contribute to social media controversy, though, tweeting this, early Sunday morning:
Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on HIstory Channel looks exactly like That Guy? twitter.com/glennbeck/stat…
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 17, 2013
The History Channel along with the show’s executive producers, Mike Burnett and Roma Downey, were quick to respond.
“History Channel has the highest respect for President Obama," they said in a joint statement. "The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It's unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History’s The Bible is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history.”
The two producers also replied, “This is utter nonsense, the actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouzaani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several biblical epics -- including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our president."
