It seems the Carter family can't go on vacation without encountering some sort of controversy (i.e. their Cuba trip earlier this year). According to an article in British newspaper The Independent, controversial archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass recently refused Beyoncé access to a tour of the pyramid grounds in Egypt for being both late and rude. He'd previously banned York Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, who presented a BBC series on life and death in the Valley of the Kings.
"Most people I take on tours are very nice and we become friends. But this lady… 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."
Hawass, nicknamed both "The Mubarak Of Antiquities" and "Egypt's Indiana Jones", is Egypt's former Minister of State for Antiquities, having lost his position during mass protests in 2011. Although he's currently knee-deep in corruption allegations from the US Justice Department concerning his role as National Geographic's Explorer-in-Residence, he remains the gatekeeper of the pyramids. Dude's essentially the Egyptian pyramid equivalent of Seinfeld's Soup Nazi.
Beyoncé's guard apparently intervened in the tour process after Hawass' unmet request for an apology, which was the final straw.
"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."
That's all, folks. Too bad for Bey.
