In a matter of months, Halle Bailey will make her debut as Ariel in Disney’s latest production of The Little Mermaid. Securing such an iconic role in a major live-action production is a major honor for the multi-hyphenate talent, but it hasn’t come without critique. Throughout the launch of the highly-anticipated film, Bailey has been bombarded with comments about Disney’s decision to cast her as the lead. The backlash to her portrayal of Ariel only grew as bigoted remarks flooded the comment section of the film’s first teaser trailer. Ultimately, Disney made the decision to prevent users from commenting on any of its new YouTube videos pertaining to the film.
Bailey is three months away from debuting her first major film with Disney. As the premiere nears, she has opted to sit down with The Face. During their conversation, the Grammy-nominated artist offered her thoughts regarding the racist comments she’s seen regarding her role in The Little Mermaid.
“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore,” Bailey said.
“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. It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”
Bailey’s ability to handle the backlash she’s received regarding the film is also enhanced by advice that Beyoncé gave her long ago.
“When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, B 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,” she explained.
“I didn’t see any of the negativity.”
