Actor Idris Elba has opened up about his experience at the recent Akwasidae festival in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
According to him, he was in Ghana to film a documentary about gold when he was invited to the festival by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
He showed up at the festival in his jeans and a shirt but he was told his outfit was inappropriate for the occasion.
He, therefore, had to change into kente cloth and some gold-plated accessories made for royalties.
The English actor of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonian parentage was speaking on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“So I showed up in my jeans and they say, no no no.
You have to wear this (kente) and that was the outfit. It was a really fascinating day. I mean it was beautiful. The tradition was rich and this is a kente outfit…it is a system so when you meet the king, you’ll have to drop the shoulder down a little and shake the king…it is sort of respect…it was actually a really beautiful time,” he disclosed.
“While I was there in the Asante Kingdom, which is in Kumasi, the Asante king said hey, I am a big fan and I want you to come to my yearly possession where I meet all of my kingdoms which is a very big, vast kingdom,” he added.
Elba has been to Ghana a couple of times. This included filming Beasts of No Nation in Ghana.