Halle Bailey has some thoughts on the racism that has clouded her Little Mermaid debut. On Thursday, the actress opened up about the racist backlash she’s had to endure after it was revealed she would be portraying the first-ever Black version of Ariel in the upcoming live-action film.
She said in a new cover story for The Face: Ugh. So, so awful that she’d even have to “expect” this kind of controversy! Related: Melissa Joan Hart & Ryan Reynolds Once Had A ‘Thing’! She went on to gush about how important this color-blind casting will be for the next generation, saying: Thankfully, when the first teaser of the Disney flick premiered, Halle was preoccupied while attending the D23 Expo, so she wasn’t paying much attention to the internet’s negative reaction.
This helped her stay positive and joyful about the experience! She credits her mentor Beyoncé (whom she simply referred to as “B”) as well, saying: Well, that’s good!
In case you missed the drama, in a truly infuriating turn of events, after Disney dropped the first teaser of the highly-anticipated film — which included the first look at Halle as the iconic mermaid — haters clicked the dislike button so much, the company actually turned off the function.
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