‘The Little Mermaid’ star Halle Bailey speaks out after racist reaction to Ariel’s casting

She also says she was “in disbelief” and “grateful” after watching videos of young black girls reacting to the teaser trailer.

TODan Heching, CNN, CNNWire

Friday, February 24, 2023 02:29 PM

'The Little Mermaid' star Halle Bailey spoke out about racist remarks

LOS ANGELES — Halle Bailey can’t wait for viewers to see the new The Little Mermaid live game, and she’s not put off by the naysayers.

In a new interview with The Face published on Thursday, the singer-actor revealed that the backlash arose when it became known that she was cast as the mermaid Ariel, and again when she was first seen in the role last fall. was not surprising.

“As a black person, you just expect it and it’s not a shock anymore,” said the Grammy nominee.

“People don’t understand that when you’re black, there’s this whole other community,” she shared. “It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”

MORE: Watch Halle Bailey Transform into Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’ Teaser Trailer

By this point, Bailey also mentioned that after the teaser dropped, when parents started sharing videos of their black daughters admiring Bailey as Ariel, she looked at them “in disbelief.”

“It makes me feel more grateful for where I am,” she said.

The rising star also thanked the creators of The Little Mermaid for allowing her authentic personality to be part of this new iteration of the Disney water princess, especially in regards to her hair.

“A black woman has spiritual hair, especially curls,” Bailey said, also mentioning that a significant amount of pre-production time on set was devoted to analyzing how her hair moved through the water.

“It was really cool for them to make Ariel a version of me with my locks,” she added.

In The Little Mermaid, based on the 1989 classic, Melissa McCarthy also plays the sea witch Ursula. The release is scheduled for May 26th.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this ABC station.

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