Halle Bailey continues to be an inspiration for countless people. Next year, Bailey will be seen on the big screen in the title role of The Little Mermaid.
On Sunday (November 6), the young, Black actress posted a photo of a personal note she received on a flight from a pilot who noticed that she was a passenger on the airplane. “This amazing pilot on the plane gave me this beautiful note today,” Bailey tweeted along with the photo.
The note read: “Miss Bailey. It’s an honor to have you on board today. Thank you for being an inspiration to little brown girls all over the world like we were a few years ago.”
The note was signed with a heart and the name “Jess O,” who described herself as “Your young Latina female Delta pilot.”
The following morning, representatives of the airline responded to Bailey’s tweet. “You’re giving so many little girls wings,” they tweeted. “Thank you for letting us be part of your world.”
Delta pilot “Jess O” isn’t the only Latine fan that has shown her support for Bailey playing the role of Ariel. In September, a week after a new trailer was released featuring Bailey for the first time, which triggered racist comments online, actor Ismael Cruz Córdova tweeted his support to her. “Darling [Halle Bailey] congratulations…the rest? Have a great time in your caves,” Córdova wrote in Spanish.
A week later, actress Rachel Zegler (West Side Story) shared the same sentiment after someone posted a message about their excitement over Zegler playing Snow White in a live-action movie, but didn’t feel the same about Bailey. Zegler responded by tweeting, “If you don’t support my girl Halle, who is the perfect Ariel, you don’t support any of us.”
Later that month, Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda told Variety what he thought about some of the negative reactions Bailey was receiving online. “I’m not interested in giving them any oxygen because I know the lives that are going to be changed,” Miranda said. “Halle is perfect for the part. She is going to blow them away. If that’s the thing that makes you mad, then stay mad. But examine your choices.”