Sophia Michaels
Trevor Noah slammed the “internet racists” complaining about how a Black actress will portray the Little Mermaid in the upcoming Disney remake on Thursday’s The Daily Show.
On the heels of a similar online backlash aimed at characters of color on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Little Mermaid’s first trailer was met with thousands of “dislikes” and a #NotMyAriel hashtag after it showed actress/singer Halle Bailey in the role of Ariel, who was white in the original animated film.
“Once again, a bunch of internet racists are upset that a fictional character is being played by a black person,” Noah continued. “And honestly, I don’t know what the big deal is. You guys realize that Nemo was black, too, right? The whole movie was about a fish that can’t find his dad. I can say that ’cause my dad left, and he’s white, who’s racist now?”
Noah then quipped that the Little Mermaid is black because everyone whose first name is “Lil” is black: Lil Wayne, Lil Nas X, Lil Kim, etc. “If you heard there’s a woman named Lil Mermaid, you’d just assume she’s on a track with Cardi B,” he added.
“Stop being ridiculous. It’s imaginary,” Noah added. “I hope this scandal doesn’t overshadow the rest of the movie. The Little Mermaid is a beautiful story about a young woman changing her core identity to please a man. Let’s not forget about that, people.”
