Halle Bailey Says She’s Not “Shocked” By The Racist Comments She’s Received Since Landing “The Little Mermaid” Role: “As A Black Person, You Just Expect It”

Halle Bailey opened up about the racist backlash she’s received after landing the role as Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid.”

Bailey recently sat down with “The Face” magazine and discussed the negativity that came with her upcoming role and said she wasn’t bothered by the racist remarks.

“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore,” Bailey says. “I know people are like, ‘It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her … People don’t understand that when you’re Black there’s this whole other community. It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”

Bailey also revealed that she got good advice from her mentor, Beyoncé, on handling criticism and naysayers.

“When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, B was always like, ‘I never read my comments. Don’t ever read the comments,'” Bailey added. “Honestly, when the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”

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The 22-year-old actress/singer previously spoke about how she felt that “somebody like me” scored such a legendary part.

“The fact that I get to represent all of these little young Black and brown boys and girls who are to come is really special to me because I know that if I had that when I was younger, it would have changed my whole perspective on life.”