Disney made news when it announced that they would be remaking the classic, The Little Mermaid, and Halle Bailey would star as Princess Ariel.
Following the news, it was announced that the live adaptation of a Peter Pan & Wendy film would star grown-ish’s Yara Shahidi.
While the choices of actresses for their respective roles seemed appropriate according to their abilities, many racist fans were not on board with the selection and two have faced intense backlash.
Shahidi told The Hollywood Reporter that she’s “so excited to watch Halle onscreen — if there’s anybody that is a princess just in real life, in the world, it’s Halle,” adding that her playing Ariel “made so much sense.”
She added, “What’s been beautiful is seeing the response to both of our characters and seeing how many people feel included in this fairy tale, while also maintaining the magic that we love in the first place. I think oftentimes people think of diversity and inclusion as threatening or jeopardizing the quality of the story, instead of seeing how beautifully they can be interwoven together to create something that impacts even more people, that lets even more people into stories that we love.”
Shahidi stars in the film with Jude Law, Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Alan Tudyk and Jim Gaffigan. It hits theaters on April 28.
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