Disney princesses unite! Actress Halle Bailey (Grown-ish), who is playing Ariel in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid next year, is getting some major love and support from fellow soon-to-be Disney star Rachel Zegler (West Side Story).
On Tuesday (September 20), Zegler, who is playing the title character in the 2024 live-action version of Snow White, responded to a tweet from a troll who tagged her in a message. The troll tweeted that he thought Zegler was a “good choice for the role of Snow White because she looks just like her” but couldn’t get behind the casting of Bailey as Ariel, apparently because Bailey is Black and the character in the original 1989 animated film is white.
“[Halle Bailey] is #NotMyAriel,” the troll tweeted. “She can be the Little Mermaid on Broadway if she wishes, but not in a movie.”
Zegler fired back at the troll by telling him that she and Bailey were a package deal. “If you don’t support my girl Halle, who is the perfect Ariel, you don’t support any of us,” she tweeted.
Since the teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid debuted online earlier this month, there have been quite a few racists sharing their bad takes about how displeased they are that Disney cast a Black actress to play the lead role.
Last week, actor Ismael Cruz Córdova (The Rings of Power) also tweeted in solidarity with Bailey. “Darling [Halle Bailey] congratulations…the rest? Have a great time in your caves,” Córdova wrote in Spanish. Córdova, too, has been on the receiving end of racist tweets from viewers unhappy that he is portraying an elf of color in The Rings of Power.
We’re sure more heads will explode in 2024 when the trolls realize Rachel Zegler is Latine.