Mena Massoud has deleted his Twitter page after posting a tweet about Disney's new live-action remake, The Little Mermaid.
Massoud shot to international fame back in 2019 when he starred as the titular Aladdin in Disney's live-action remake of the 1992 animated classic.
Despite middling reviews, the movie became the ninth highest-grossing movie of the year and surpassed $1 billion at the box office. Nevertheless, despite the animated version receiving two sequels, it is currently up in the air about whether or not a live-action sequel will hit our screens.
According to The Digital Fix, an 'Aladdin 2' was in "active development", but Massoud has cast doubt on the project, saying it is "very unlikely" that a sequel will ever be released. (As of this writing, we're just going to have hold tight for some official news from Disney.)
This brings us to the upcoming release of the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which stars Halle Bailey as Ariel - the young mermaid who signs away her voice in order to pursue love and life as a human on land.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on May 26, but Massoud has already made some predictions about how the future of the franchise will play out.
In a now-deleted tweet screenshotted by fans and by outlets such as TMZ and the Daily Mail, Massoud boldly tweeted: "Our film [Aladdin (2019)] was unique in that audiences went to watch it multiple times. It's the only way we reached the billion dollar mark with our opening. My guess is [The Little Mermaid] doesn't cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel."
Massoud's comments did not go down well with a lot of social media users, with people rushing to defend both The Little Mermaid and it's star, Bailey.
"Remember when they said Black Panther wouldn’t make a billion? Remember when it made $1.3 billion and got Marvel its first Oscar nomination for Best Picture? Yeah, The Little Mermaid will be just fine @MenaMassoud," one person tweeted.
A second added: "Why do you assume that people won’t rewatch TLM when many people have already preordered multiple tickets? Don’t underestimate the cult following behind this film. It’s bigger than nostalgic Disney fans but there’s a huge number of people flocking to it because of representation."
Others even branded Massoud's comments as "anti-Black" and called him out for not showing "POC solidarity".
Now, when you attempt to visit Massoud's Twitter page, social media users are met with a blank screen and a message that reads: "This account doesn’t exist".
Sadly, Halle Bailey has spoken out about how the negative response to her playing Ariel - who was depicted as white in the animated version - was "not really a shock".
Bailey has been targeted with vile racist comments ever since Disney announced her as the lead role.
Speaking to The Face magazine, the 23-year-old revealed: "As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore."
Nevertheless, she is focused on the important representation her movie will provide for children all over the world. Speaking on her YouTube channel, she said in a recent video: "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."
