'Snow White' Star Rachel Zegler Defends 'Little Mermaid' Star Halle Bailey From Backlash

From one Disney princess to another. Rachel Zegler wades in on "The Little Mermaid" casting controversy by slamming back at internet critics.

Rachel Zegler is a singer-actress known for musical roles, later on making her film debut as Maria Vasquez in the 2021 musical drama "West Side Story". Zegler is also set to play Snow White in the live-action version of the fairy tale alongside Gal Gadot as the evil queen.

During the recent D23 Expo 2022, Disney's upcoming project, a live-action film of "The Little Mermaid" unveiled its first look at singer Halle Bailey as the Disney princess Ariel, singing an excerpt from the iconic "Part of your world".

However, the casting choice prompted a rampant online backlash, which specifically garnered racist responses. This prompted a trending hashtag, #NotMyAriel to circulate on social media sites.

Amidst the criticism of "The Little Mermaid", fellow Disney princess Rachel Zegler responded to a certain critic's tweet that expressed their preference to cast the "Snow White" actress as Ariel instead.

"if you don't support my girl halle, who is the perfect ariel, you don't support any of us." Zegler responded to the critic.

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Prompted A New Hashtag

While Rachel Zegler's response may have earned a lot of support from "The Little Mermaid" supporters, some critics have retaliated by attempting to trend a new hashtag, #NotMySnowWhite.

Despite the constant criticism of Disney's casting choices, Zegler continues to gain the respect of many fans as the actress is known to be vocal on social issues, especially in the fight against racism. Notably, Zegler is the first Latina actress to play Snow White in a live-action major motion picture, so it's needless to say that she had to fight her own "racist" battles as well.

Halle Bailey Continues to Empower

Amidst the constant criticism, singer Halle Bailey tells Variety that the heartfelt feelings she gives fans in her role as a Disney Princess have become her source of empowerment as well.

"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." The actress-singer expressed. "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

The Disney classic will be directed by Rob Marshall and is set to premiere on May 26, 2023.

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