Beyonce To Play A South African Slave Saartjie Baartman In Upcoming Biopic

Singer Beyonce is reportedly making her way back to the big screen in a role that could solidify her status as an actress in Hollywood.

Beyonce To Play South African Slave In Biopic

It has been reported that Queen Bey will be playing a South African slave named Saartjie Baartman. According to South African History Online, Saartjie Baartman was a South African enslaved woman who was purchased by a Dutch farmer in the early 1800s. Her captor and military surgeon put her on display in the freak show in London, showing off her foreign frame, especially showcasing her large buttocks and curves. The plot of the film will be based around this idea all the way up to her death in 1815.

Beyonce will reportedly have a part in writing the screenplay for the biopic. There is no release date set for the movie or confirmation that Beyonce will play the role. But already, she is already receiving criticism from various South African groups, including Chief Jean Burgess of the First Indigenous Peoples of South Africa, who says that the singer is showing “arrogance in her attempt to tell a story that is not her’s to tell.”