Disney star Josh Gad calls Halle Bailey Little Mermaid trailer a ‘pathetic’ racist response

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ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 09: Halle Bailey attends D23 Expo 2022 at Anaheim Convention Center on September 09, 2022 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney); LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 27: Josh Gad attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Hulu

Alberto E. for Disney. Rodriguez / Getty; Rodin Eckenroth / Getty

josh gad Supporting his Disney family.

After first trailer for Disney’s live-action adaptation the little Mermaid debuted during 95th Academy AwardsGad, 42, called out the ongoing racist backlash halle baileyCasting as Ariel, the resulting YouTube video has been flooded with 1.2 million “dislikes” as of Saturday.

,imagine being so broken and miserable in life “Your main concern is skin colour…a fake singing mermaid,” Gad wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Connected: little Mermaid The Director Had ‘No Agenda’ When Casting Halle Bailey: ‘We Saw Everybody and Every Ethnicity’

first teaser The much-anticipated update to the 1989 animated film has garnered an additional 3.5 million dislikes since it debuted in September.

the little Mermaid Director Rob Marshall previously responded to the racist backlash that has plagued the film since Bailey casting was announced in 2019, explaining that there was “no agenda” in casting a black actress.

“We were just looking for the best actor for the role, Duration. end,” he told Entertainment Weekly In December. “We saw everyone and every ethnicity.”

Connected: the little Mermaid Trailer unveiled by stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy during Oscars 2023

She explained that her criteria was someone “incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever” who has “a great of fire and joy” in playing the iconic Disney princess.

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Bailey told People that playing the role “changed my perspective on everything,” explaining in September how it “has affected my life in so many ways.”

RELATED VIDEO: Why Halle Bailey Was ‘Sobbing’ After the little Mermaid: ‘I came out of this cocoon with Ariel’

“The fact that now it’s being played by me, a person who looks like me, woman of color, I’m exactly like, wow, I’m so grateful for what it’s doing for all the other little black and brown boys out there.” Will do and girls who see themselves in me,” Bailey said. “Because I know that if I had looked at myself when I was young, I think my whole perspective would have changed.”

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the little Mermaid Premieres in cinemas on 26 May.