Actor Who Plays the Devil on History's 'The Bible' Looks Like Obama

**AirborneSapper7** · 03-18-2013, 03:57 PM

Actor Who Plays the Devil on History's 'The Bible' Looks Like Obama

By Mike Krumboltz | Yahoo! TV – 2 hours 6 minutes ago

screengrab/History - Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni as Satan in History's "The Bible."

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The actor who plays the devil on the History channel's "The Bible" bears more than a passing resemblance to President Obama, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed on social media.

So, was it intentional? Responding to the speculation, the History released a statement saying, "History channel has the highest respect for President Obama. 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."

Executive Producers, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey called the connection "utter nonsense." And Downey said, "Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love for 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.'"

[Related: 'The Bible' Producers Couldn't Find Jesus … Until He Came Walking Through Their Garden]

False or not, people are tweeting about the brewing controversy. Conservative pundit Glenn Beck, who has called "The Bible" one of the most important shows of the decade, was among the first to point out the similarities between the actor and the president.

Beck isn't the only guy to see the uncanny resemblance. Filmmaker Judd Apatow joked, "Now I must continue my 12 year survivor boycott," a reference to the fact that "The Bible" is produced by "Survivor" honcho Mark Burnett. Others weren't so much offended as they were confused. Twitter user @texas1214 wrote, "LOL! Why does the devil in 'The Bible' look exactly like President Obama." And @Mediaite wrote, "Obama As The Devil? The History Channel's The Bible's Stunning Look-alike."

A severed head resembling President George W. Bush on "Game of Thrones."The actor's name is Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni. According to his IMDb page, he has appeared in several religion-focused television-movies, including a 2006 adaptation of "The Ten Commandments" and a 2000 film called "In the Beginning." Burnett and Downey said, "He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics -- including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President."

The Hollywood Reporter points out that Burnett has donated funds to Democratic candidates in years past, including to President Obama in 2008 and the Democratic National Committee in 2009.

A character wearing a Barack Obama mask on "True Blood."This isn't the first time an American president made an unintentional cameo in a high-profile TV event. On HBO's "Game of Thrones," show creators admitted they used a rubber recreation of George W. Bush's severed head. Co-creator David Benioff said, "It's not a choice, it's not a political statement. It's just, we had to use what heads we had around." Also, HBO's "True Blood" drew criticism for filming a scene in which disguised gunmen wore Obama masks while firing weapons.

Actor Who Plays the Devil on History's 'The Bible' Looks Like Obama - Yahoo! TV

**AirborneSapper7** · 03-18-2013, 04:06 PM

Why does the devil in 'The Bible' look exactly like President Obama?

By JAMES NYE
PUBLISHED: 02:08 EST, 18 March 2013 | UPDATED: 13:43 EST, 18 March 2013
Comments (912)

Sunday evening's episode of the History Channel's hit series 'The Bible' threw up an awkward coincidence when viewers noticed that Satan bore a remarkable resemblance to President Obama.

Twitter exploded into life during the airing of the latest edition of the Mark Burnett-produced series with most noting the striking similarities between the 44th President and the devil played by actor Mehdi Ouzaani.

The show has been a surprise hit in the ratings, with the religious mini-series attracting 13.1 million viewers on Wednesday - topping television leviathan American Idol's 12.8 million viewers on Wednesday.

Scroll down for video

Spooky: Viewers noted the Devil from the History Channel series 'The Bible' Satan looks similar to President Barack Obama

Right-wing commentator and radio-host Glenn Beck first pointed out the eerie similarity on Saturday, tweeting, 'Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?'

Others were simply struck by the clear physical match.

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Twitter user @Leah Christie, tweeted, 'Oh my word...watching The History Channel's The Bible..does Satan look familiar to anyone else?'

The resemblance between Moroccan actor Mehdi Ouazzani (left) and President Obama left some viewers of 'The Bible' taking to Twitter to express their amazement

Right-wing radio host and commentator Glenn Beck was one of the first to point out the uncanny likeness of Mehdi Ouazzani to the 44th President of the United States

The popular religious show has become a surprise hit of the winter/spring schedule and viewers on Sunday night took to Twitter to express their shock at the similarities of the two men

While Matthew Gaudet commented, 'Watching The Bible series on the History channel and noticed the guy playing the role of Satan, looks strikingly similar to Obama.'

The unfortunate incident bares comparison with HBO's infamous inclusion of a fake George W. Bush head impaled onto a stick during the background of a Season 1 Game of Thrones episode.

When the incident went viral, the network announced it was pulling the offending episode - from its rotation, freezing shipments of DVD box sets and halting sales on iTunes until the embarrassing blunder had been fixed.

'We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste,' HBO said in a statement.

Spiked: Former U.S. President George W. Bush's surprise appearance on HBO's fantasy series Game of Thrones, bares comparison to President Obama's look-a-like on Sunday's 'The Bible'

Game of Thrones creators D.B Weiss and David Benioff faced massive criticism for using a prop of George W. Bush's head in a scene from Season One of the hit show

'We made this clear to the executive producers of the series, who apologized immediately for this careless mistake.

'We condemn it in the strongest possible terms and have halted all future shipments of the DVDs, removed it from our digital platforms and will edit the scene for all future airings on any distribution domestic or international.'
HBO and the show's creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, apologized for the incident.

Mr Benioff and Mr Weiss, who noted the appearance in the series' DVD commentary, insist it wasn't a political statement - just a prop.

It remains to be seen whether this particular presidential mishap will create a similar backlash against the wildly popular mini-series.

The Mark Burnett-produced program retells the stories from the scriptures in a scripted format, from Genesis through to Revelation, the last book of the New Testament.

The miniseries' popularity is somewhat of a mystery. For one, the drama wasn't a hit with television critics, receiving a mediocre score of 44 on the Metacritic site.

'

Blessed': Producer Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey behind the scenes on The Bible where they believe 'the hand of God' was at work during filming

'As a cable series, The Bible lacked the ready-made, large scale promotional platform and popular lead-in that can drive strong ratings for a new show on a major broadcast network, of the kind NBC was, for many years,' writes a columnist in The Washington Times.

Indeed, Burnett told Entertainment Weekly that the series' success seemed almost preordained while it was being made.

'The hand of God was on this,' he said in an interview before the show's premiere. 'The edit came together perfectly, the actors came together perfectly, it just comes to life.'

Mr Burnett, who is most famous for creating reality shows such as Survivor and produced The Bible along with his actress wife Roma Downey, described a number of 'weird things' which drew the attention of cast and crew during filming.

Tales: British-born producer Mark Burnett, left, who created the series along with his wife Ms Downey, right, revealed the extraordinary experiences of the crew during filming

In one scene, filmed during a still night on the edge of the desert, Jesus tells the priest Nicodemus, 'The Holy Spirit is like the wind.'

According to Mr Burnett: 'At that moment, a wind, like as if a 747 was taking off, blew his hair, almost blew the set over and sustained for 20 seconds across the desert.

'Everyone just looked at everyone like, 'What just happened?'
Meanwhile, Glen Beck today tried to pour water on his comments, tweeting: 'Media – relax. Actor has been in similar roles b4. Funny, nothing more. For different reasons, #TheBible is 1 of my fav shows. Keep watching.'

The Bible is airing on the History Channel in two-hour chunks on Sunday nights, and has been the surprise winner in its timeslot.

The series will air its finale on March 31, Easter Sunday.

See The Bible trailer for yourself here...

Video at the Page Link

Read more: Why does the devil in 'The Bible' look exactly like President Obama? | Mail Online

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**AirborneSapper7** · 03-18-2013, 05:46 PM

What the devil? Is that OBAMA in 'The Bible'?

Does Barack Obama moonlight as the devil?

The latest episode of "The Bible" miniseries had some folks doing a double take when Satan appeared on screen.

Was Obama separated at birth from the Wicked One?

See for yourself.

WND-TV

DEVIL LOOKS LIKE OBAMA IN 'THE BIBLE'

Twitter explodes during airing of latest episode of miniseries

Published: 8 hours ago
by JOE KOVACS

Some are comparing Satan from "The Bible" TV miniseries with President Obama.

President Barack Obama, already famous for having flies attracted to his face, is now the subject of devilish talk after Sunday night’s episode of “The Bible” miniseries on the History Channel.

Twitter exploded with comments from viewers who noticed an eerie similarity between the face of Mr. Obama and that of the Satan character, played by actor Mehdi Ouzaani.

Media giant Glenn Beck was among the first to make the connection, tweeting, “Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?”

Beck refers to Obama as “that guy,” having vowed not to utter the name of the president in all of 2013.

1st Video at the Page Link: Devil looks like Obama in â€˜The Bibleâ€™

Twitter user @Leah Christie, tweeted, “Oh my word…watching The History Channel’s The Bible…does Satan look familiar to anyone else?”

Other tweets include:

@Hunt4Photos: “History channel/last night/show: The Bible. Why did Satan look just like President Obama? Pissed off man!”

Slhappy Gilmore@KPOView: “I was so excited about #TheBible as it’s a way to bring it to life for all to see. But political statements like Satan=Obama, we lose.”

Stephanie Jefferson@mittchick: “I am so relieved to know that my eyes and mind were not playing tricks on me when I thought Satan resembled Obama in #TheBible”

VictorJett Contreras@victorjett: WHA! Did the Bible miniseries on History Channel make the Devil look like Obama. Crazy. Ridiculous.”

Radio host Rush Limbaugh quipped Monday afternoon, “In light of that picture … the question that sprang to everybody’s mind is: if Satan had a son, would he look like the guy [in the White House']?”

Find out everything you always wanted to know about the devil but were too afraid to ask in the autographed besteller, “Shocked by the Bible,” or get “Shocked by the Bible” bundled with Joe Kovacs’ brand-new bestseller, “The Divine Secret.”

“The Bible” is a collaboration between Mark Burnett and his wife, actress Roma Downey. Burnett has contributed to Democrat candidates, including Obama in 2008 and the DNC in 2009, while he also produces Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and was behind Sarah Palin’s first reality effort.

“This is utter nonsense,” Burnett and Downey said in a joint statement. “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.”

Downey added, “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.’”

The History Channel adds in a statement: “History Channel has the highest respect for President Obama. 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.”

Burnett told TMZ the devil has stirred the pot and created a false likeness between Obama and the TV devil.

Burnett believes the real devil is frightened that Jesus has now entered the picture of life and is trying to distract from God’s message by creating a false story.

“What could be more annoying to Satan than talking about Jesus?” Burnett told TMZ. He added he’s confident the real devil’s plan of distraction will not work, saying, “We believe in the light.”

This is not the first time some in the public have made a connection between evil in the Bible and President Obama.

On Nov. 5, 2008, the very night Obama was first elected president, the Illinois Pick 3 lottery number for the Evening Pick was 666, a number associated with “the beast” mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Obama’s home state at the time was Illinois.

In January of this year, WND reported how prophecy websites were having a field day with the worldwide attention Obama received for sparring with a fly.

President Obama with a fly on his face in January 2013

News reports recounted Obama’s long history of attracting flies during recorded interviews and speeches.

Religious and other websites used the headlines to point out that a biblical reference for Satan, the Semitic deity Beelzebub, literally translates from Hebrew into “Lord of the Flies.”

As Obama nominated two new members of his second administration on Jan. 24, a swarming fly stole the show.

“This guy is bothering me here,” said Obama, who repeatedly swatted at a large black fly buzzing near his face.

The London Telegraph noted a White House pool report said “the president spoke for about five minutes while being menaced by a house fly.”

This was not the president’s first brush with a fly while the cameras were rolling.

President Obama with a fly on his lip

In 2010, Obama halted a speech about health-care reform as a fly zipped around him.

During a June 2009 CNBC interview, Obama killed a fly on camera.

“Get out of here,” the president said with his eyes on the fly before the interview began. When the fly persisted, he killed it with a single blow.

“That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it?” said Obama of his feat. “I got the sucker.”

In a 2008 campaign appearance, Obama halted a local interview after a swarm of flies had gathered around him.

Those reaching to connect Obama’s fly troubles with the darkest biblical references won’t have much difficulty.

One name commonly used to refer to Satan is Beelzebub, which translates from Hebrew into “Lord of the Flies.”

A posting at the popular Free Republic Web forum discusses Beelzebub and asks, “Is the White House fly infestation evidence of demonic presence and influence there?”

The End Times blog named Obama the “Lord of the Flies.”

The blog connects Obama to Beelzebub, writing, “This really isn’t an academic question. The Lord of the Flies is real.”

Over at RevalationNow.net, a posting by “editorial staff” muses about whether Obama is possessed by a demonic entity.

“I feel like I am watching a horror movie and the secret evil character is revealed by the evil signs around him,” the post reads.

Beelzebub is first referenced in 2 Kings 1:2-3, 6, 16, in which Beelzebub is described as the god of the Philistine city of Ekron.

Jewish scholars have interpreted the title “Lord of Flies” as the Hebrew way of comparing followers of the Canaanite deity Baal to flies.

The name Beelzebub is found throughout the New Testament, mostly as a reference to the prince of demons.

In Mark 3:22, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, prince of demons. The name also appears in the expanded version in Matthew 12:24, 27 and Luke 11:15, 18-19.

Beelzebub also makes a cameo as the prince of demons in the Testament of Solomon, a Hellenistic Jewish text.

The extended trailer for “The Bible” miniseries can be seen by clicking on the video below:

2nd Video at the page link: Devil looks like Obama in â€˜The Bibleâ€™

Devil looks like Obama in â€˜The Bibleâ€™