'Racist dorks': OG mermaid Daryl Hannah defends Halle Bailey from trolls attacking Disney's reboot
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The 22-year-old actress, Halle Bailey, was named as the main character Ariel in Disney's latest live action remake of the 'Little Mermaid' in August. But a debate started online after people complained that Halle didn't 'look' like Disney's original version of Ariel, who was drawn as a white girl with red hair (albeit with a fish tail instead of legs). Many stars came in support of Bailey after she was subject to racist trolling. Among them was former mermaid from the rom-com 'Splash', Daryl Hannah.
Hannah, 61, played the mermaid Madison in the hit 1983 film 'Splash' alongside Tom Hanks. She tweeted her support for Bailey against the racist comments the later was recieving online after Disney posted about their new live action mermaid.
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As soon as the Disney posted the live action trailer of little mermaid, many viewers bombarded the clip with dislikes and racist comments. While the trailer saw a huge number of views in its first few days, it also saw a huge wave of negativity. Trolls were unhappy with Bailey, a Black actress and singer, being cast in the movie as Ariel. Although the YouTube page itself does not reveal the number of 'dislikes', it has been estimated via a Chrome extension that the total number of dislikes is around 2 million and growing with only 865k likes.
Daryl Hannah referenced her time playing a fictional mermaid in the rom com 'Splash' to show her support towards Bailey. She tweeted, "The little mermaid is black I met her there! #dontbearacistdork." When a social media user criticized her stance, saying, "This tweet is to intentionally divide people. I don't care what color a fictional cartoon character is and you should not either," Daryl Hannah replied, "Glad to hear you’re not bothered I’m addressing those who are bothered not being divisive".
The little mermaid is black
— Daryl Hannah (@dhlovelife) September 15, 2022
I met her
there!#dontbearacistdork
Glad to hear you’re not bothered
— Daryl Hannah (@dhlovelife) September 15, 2022
I’m addressing those who are bothered
not being divisive
Many other stars also came forward to extend their support towards the actress and the racist comments she was recieving in the Comments section. The Daily Show host, Trever Noah, showed his support during Thursday’s episode. He showed footage of a news broadcast focusing on online complaints about the fact that the film stars a Black actress, Halle Bailey. "Really, people — we’re doing this again?” Noah said.“Once again, a bunch of Internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a Black person. This is so ridiculous.” he added.
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry also defended Halle Bailey amid a storm of criticism after the movie teaser was released. Jodi Benson who voiced Ariel gave her seal of approval in a post on her Instagram Story, noting that she was excited for Bailey, which Bailey reshared on her Instagram story too. Benson went on to write "Halle, you were abolutely amazing! I'm SO proud of you and your beautiful performance as Ariel. it was so wonderful to celebrate with your family at #d23expo"
