Rachel Zegler has hit out at vicious trolls who have been attacking Halle Bailey over her casting in The Little Mermaid, after the hashtag '#NotMyAriel' started trending on Twitter.
Zegler's support comes after Bailey has suffered harsh criticism for her role as Ariel in the new live-action remake. Cruel internet trolls racially targeted the 22-year-old actress and singer when she was cast as the new Ariel - claiming that the original 1989 cartoon depicted a white mermaid and so should have been portrayed by a white actress.
"I'm not racist but that's #NotMyAriel … this is my Ariel … the most iconic red-hair in the Disney Universe," someone wrote.
One user on the social networking platform also wrote: "Hey Disney, I actually think that Rachel Zegler is a good choice for the role of Snow White because she looks just like her. But Halle Bailey is #NotMyAriel. She can be the Little Mermaid on Broadway if she wishes, but not in a movie [sic]."
To which Zegler, who is slated to appear in the upcoming Disney remake of Snow White, took to Twitter to support her fellow actress, replied: "If you don’t support my girl Halle, who is the perfect Ariel, you don't support any of us."
Though, many people have come out in support of Bailey, saying that her casting in Ariel is inspiring a whole generation of young Black girls who will now grow up seeing an Ariel who looks like them.
Bailey has since spoken on her casting, stating: "I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they're special, and that they should be a princess in every single way. There's no reason that they shouldn't be. That reassurance was something that I needed."
"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 continued, via Movieweb.
The Grammy Award nominee added: "What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything. Things that seem so small to everyone else, it's so big to us."
One TikTok user's video showing the excitement her three-year-old felt when seeing a Black Ariel went viral, earning the clip more than 1.6 million likes in less than two weeks.
In the viral video, the young girl can be seen beaming from ear to ear, before excitedly telling her mom: "I think she's brown!"
One person had commented under the video: "All these videos of these beautiful little girls seeing representation has me an absolute blubbering mess. I never want these videos to stop."
While another wrote: "You have no idea how happy this just made me. Ugh!! REPRESENTATION MATTERS!!"
Despite not being set for release until May 2023, the upcoming live-action remake has evidently received immense support from people who say that it is a welcomed improvement on representation of Black and Brown people - especially when it comes to Disney princesses.
Well, with a Latina Snow White and a Black Ariel coming to our screens in the next year or so, a whole generation of young girls are going to feel empowered and inspired - watch this space!
