The renowned Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass is doubling down on his explanation for banning Beyoncé from the Pyramids of Giza.
Zahi Hawass just wrapped his U.S. media tour, where he sparred with podcaster Joe Rogan over the origins of the pyramids and spilled on his awkward run-in with Beyoncé, a meeting he ranks as one of his worst celebrity encounters, second only to Katy Perry.
“Beyoncé came in 2008, and it did not end well,” Hawass recalled to the NY Post. “She was a very nice lady, but she had a very bad bodyguard.
I have a camera lady who follows me during these tours, to record everything — and Beyoncé’s bodyguard snatched the camera right out of her hand. I wouldn’t stand for it! I told her and her bodyguard to get out, and banned her from the pyramids.”His account echoes the one he gave in November 2013, following Beyoncé’s visit to the Egyptian pyramids, where she allegedly arrived late, failed to apologize for her lateness, and attempted to prevent his photographer from taking her photo.
“Most people I take on tours are very nice, and
we become friends. But this lady,” Hawass said of the decorated Grammy winner. “She said she would come at 3 p.m., but she came late. I said, ‘You have to say I’m sorry I’m late.’ But she didn’t open her mouth.”He continued. “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.”
Hawass, the former Minister of State for Antiquities who was ousted during Egypt’s 2011 protests, had an alleged unpleasant encounter with Beyoncé at the same time he faced corruption accusations over his $200,000-a-year deal with National Geographic, which involved controlling access to many of the sites the magazine covered.
When it comes to Katy Perry, Hawass thinks he might’ve rubbed her the wrong way, admitting he only acknowledged her then-husband, Orlando Bloom, during their visit, while barely recognizing the pop star herself.
“Katy Perry came once, and I don’t think she was very happy,” he said. “I didn’t recognize her, and didn’t realize she was a singer. I only knew that the guy next to her was Orlando Bloom. I think that upset her.”
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