‘The Little Mermaid’: Trevor Noah Slams Backlash to Halle Bailey Casting

Trevor Noah is not here for the backlash against Grown-ish alum Halle Bailey’s casting in the Disney live-action remake of its classic The Little Mermaid. Amid the highly-anticipated trailer’s release, Bailey has gotten criticism for not resembling the cartoon character. There have been comments made about her beautifully loc’d hair, and others complaining she doesn’t exude Disney princess. The Daily Show host says the criticism is simply racist. “Really, people — we’re doing this again?” he asked on his talk show. Addressing claims that the talented singer looks “nothing like” the Ariel in the 1989 animated movie, Noah is calling BS. “Nothing like? They both have the tail, they both have the red [hair],” the host said.

He says all of the complaints are due to Bailey being a Black woman. “Once again, a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a Black person. This is so ridiculous,” Noah added. “And honestly, I don’t know what the big deal is. You guys realize that Nemo was Black too, right? Yeah! The whole movie was about a fish that can’t find his dad.”

The trailer on YouTube has received over 1 million thumbs-down reactions from viewers. Noah wants complainers to “stop being ridiculous” and reminded them that “it’s imaginary” when it comes to the Disney fairytales.

“I hope this scandal doesn’t overshadow the rest of the movie. ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a beautiful story about a young woman changing her core identity to please a man. Let’s not forget about that, people,” he concluded.