Halle Bailey Just Opened Up About The #NotMyAriel Backlash Over Her Casting In "The Little Mermaid"

Halle Bailey Just Opened Up About The #NotMyAriel Backlash Over Her Casting In "The Little Mermaid"
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Halle Bailey Just Opened Up About The #NotMyAriel Backlash Over Her Casting In "The Little Mermaid"

She's so strong.

chelseastewart-v2-5590-1513102854-0_large.jpg?downsize=60:*&output-format=jpg&output-quality=autoby Chelsea Stewart

BuzzFeed Staff

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If you were online the day it was announced that Halle Bailey would star in The Little Mermaid remake, you might remember that the news was met with mixed reactions from fans.

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Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images for BET

While many were excited to see her bring a new twist to the role, others weren't so thrilled, tweeting their anger over the casting of a Black actor through the hashtag #notmyariel.

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Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images

Halle said in an interview at the time that she was trying not to "pay attention to the negativity" — but in all honesty, it stung.

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Michael Tran / AFP via Getty Images

Halle recently opened up to Variety about how the criticism affected her and how she dealt with it, saying that her family was a big source of support.

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Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images

“It’s important to have a strong support system around you," her sister, Chloe Bailey, told the outlet. "It’s hard to carry the weight of the world on your own.”

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Thaddaeus Mcadams / Getty Images for Neon Carnival

Halle explained that once she shared the situation with her family, they gave her words of encouragement that helped her overcome all the negativity she was getting online.

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Mike Coppola / Getty Images

“It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,’” she said.

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Erika Goldring / WireImage

She also thought about what her own experience would have been like had she grown up seeing a person of color in that role. “What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything,” Halle said. “Things that seem so small to everyone else, it’s so big to us.”

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Dominique Charriau / Getty Images For Miu Miu

The Little Mermaid doesn't come out until 2023, but in the meantime, you can find out more of the details about the film here.

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