Halle Bailey addresses the pressures of being a Black Disney princess
The singer/actor will be playing Ariel in a forthcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid

Halle Bailey Photo: Roy Rochlin
In a new interview with Variety, Halle Bailey has opened up about the pressures of playing a Disney princess as a person of color. The singer and actor stars as Ariel in a new version of The Little Mermaid, and has been fending off trolls since her casting was announced in 2019. She’ll be the first Black Disney princess seen in live action on the big screen.
“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,” Bailey tells Variety. “There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed.”