‘The Bible’ producers rip conspiracy over Satan actor Mehdi Ouzaani, President Obama

So were the producers of the History miniseries “The Bible” trying to make some sort of political statement this weekend? Those who watched the extremely-popular show on Sunday night were treated to a depiction of Satan that raised plenty of eyebrows online, with Glenn Beck and some other politicians suggesting that there were even physical similarities between the character presented on screen and that of President Barack Obama. You can see some photographic evidence to the photo to the left, and while we do personally see a little bit of a physical resemblance, it really does not feel like enough to make such a big hoopla over.

Nonetheless, the buzz online ended up going so far the the executives producers on the project in Mark Burnett and Roma Downey were actually forced to issue a statement on the matter, denying that there was such a correlation in mind and that the actor used here has a history of playing dark and menacing roles:

“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.

“Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our President, who is a fellow Christian. False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible.”

This is one of the first instances of bad publicity for what has become a sensation for the cable channel, and also a trend that we are starting to see more: programming with a religious message delivering strong ratings in a mainstream setting. This same audience has helped in part to create a hit over on A&E in “Duck Dynasty.”

What do you think: are the comparisons here between Satan and Obama fair, and is there a major conspiracy at hand? If you want to read a little bit more on “The Bible” ratings, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: History