Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty for Disney;Rodin Eckenroth/Getty
Josh Gadis supporting his Disney family.
After thefirst trailerfor Disney’s live-action adaptation ofThe Little Mermaiddebuted during the95th Academy Awards, Gad, 42, called out the ongoing racist response toHalle Bailey’s casting as Ariel, which has resulted in the YouTube video being flooded with 1.2 million “dislikes” as of Saturday.
“Imagine being so broken and pathetic in lifethat your chief concern is the skin color of…a make-believe singing mermaid,” Gad wrote Thursday on Twitter.
Thefirst teaserfor the highly anticipated update of the 1989 animated film has additionally garnered 3.5 million dislikes since it debuted in September.
The Little Mermaiddirector Rob Marshall previously responded to the racist backlash, which has plagued the film since Bailey’scasting was announcedin 2019, explaining that there was “no agenda” in choosing a Black actress.
“We just werelooking for the best actor for the role, period. The end,” he toldEntertainment Weeklyin December. “We saw everybody and every ethnicity.”
He explained their criteria was someone “incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever,” who exudes “a great deal of fire and joy” in playing the iconic Disney princess.
Bailey told PEOPLE that landing the role has “changed my perspective on everything,” explaining in September how it has “impacted my life in so many ways.”
RELATED VIDEO: Why Halle Bailey Was ‘Sobbing’ AfterThe Little Mermaid: ‘I Had Come Out of This Cocoon with Ariel’
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The Little Mermaidpremieres in theaters May 26.
source: people.com
