Halle Bailey attends the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons Honoring Julie Greenwald & Craig Kallman at The Beverly Hilton on February 04, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
*Halle Bailey continues to be harassed by racist trolls over her role in Disney’s live-action feature “The Little Mermaid”.
When a new trailer dropped on Feb. 15, Bailey once again found herself targeted by haters on social media. Many fans of the beloved Disney title are outraged that a Black woman is taking on the role of Princess Ariel.
“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore,” Bailey told The Face in a new interview. ”When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, [Beyoncé] was always like: ’I never read my comments. Don’t ever read the comments.’ Honestly, when the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”
“I know people are like: ’It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her…People don’t understand that when you’re Black there’s this whole other community,” she added. “It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”
READ MORE: Freeform Defends Halle Bailey as Ariel After Racist Backlash Over ‘Little Mermaid’ Casting
We reported previously that racist Disney fans have been blasting the decision to cast Halle as the first black Ariel since 2019. Facebook even removed a ‘Make America White Again’ group after members shared offensive memes related to Bailey playing the fictional mermaid. There was even a #NotMyAriel hashtag that started trending on Twitter.
Disney-owned Freeform, the network that’s home to Bailey’s series “Grown-ish,” previously chimed in to address those who are big mad that the actress doesn’t look like the cartoon version from the original animated film that came out three decades ago.
Freeform noted that Bailey was cast as Ariel because she is “highly talented,” and director Rob Marshall agrees.
Marshall told Entertainment Weekly that he had “no agenda” when casting a Black Ariel.
“We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end,” Marshall said. “We saw everybody and every ethnicity. [The goal was to find someone who can be] incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever [and with]a great deal of fire and joy.”
Marshall said in 2019, “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.”
Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in the 1989 animated film “The Little Mermaid,” spoke in defense of Bailey during her appearance at Florida Supercon in 2019
“The most important thing is to tell the story. And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don’t see anything that’s different on the outside,” Benson said, per Comic Book.
“The Little Mermaid” arrives in theaters on May 26.
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