You’ll probably know Halle Bailey best for two things: her role as Ariel in Disney’s 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, and appearing in the visual album for Lemonade by Beyoncé, who she also supported on tour as part of musical sister duo Chloe x Halle. The pair first found an audience on YouTube, and have since been nominated for five Grammys.
Bailey was only 19 when she was cast in The Little Mermaid, thanks due what director Rob Marshall described as her “otherworldly sensibility”. Of course the internet quickly found something to complain about, with much of the backlash going beyond the absence of cartoony bright red hair. “I expected it, honestly,” she told the Guardian. “We’re all human beings, so of course it’s going to hurt or sting a little bit, especially remarks like those.”
