Last month Disney announced it had found its Ariel for the live-action(ish) reboot of The Little Mermaid. Halle Bailey of Chloe x Halle and Grown-ish fame got the role of the titular mermaid, but the news of her casting wasn't met with a positive reaction from everyone. A number of racist trolls, including some suspected bot activity, immediately started to rally against Bailey's casting. "#NotMyAriel" was an attempt at a hashtag on Twitter, but it almost instantly fizzled out.
Bailey herself, as it turns out, simply isn't paying any mind to the bullshit. "I feel like I'm dreaming and I'm just grateful and I don't pay attention to the negativity," she explained to Variety. "I just feel like this role is something bigger than me, and it's going to be beautiful. I'm just so excited to be a part of it."
Turns out a bunch of racist, entitled idiots weren't able to impact how Bailey feels whatsoever.
After the news of the casting was announced, Donald Glover was among those to tell Bailey to ignore anyone speaking negatively about the casting. "I thought that was so special," he said of the casting. "We were just watching that film and I'm like, that's such a great story but I'm just like, I dunno, I just hope that she's like having fun and don't let anybody make you feel the opposite of how you want to feel. It's a very special role and you earned it, so I hope you're listening."
