DDG, Halle Bailey. Source: Prince Williams / Getty
Halle Bailey became a target for racists after the trailer for The Little Mermaid was released. The hate was so real that the trailer got 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube, prompting the streaming app to remove the dislike counter. She also became a trending topic on Twitter as bigots made sure to share their disgust about the new Ariel being a Black woman.
The racism that Bailey faced surprised her boyfriend, rapper and YouTuber DDG. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, he said he didn’t know racism still existed.
“I didn’t know people was this racist – I didn’t know this was a thing,” he said.
The “Storyteller” rapper said that he thought civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. rid this country of racism before his death in 1968.
“I thought that s*** was gone! I thought Martin Luther King [Jr.] canceled that s*** out!,” he continued. “This s*** is crazy, I was like ‘what the f*** is these n***** talking about?’”
With so much police brutality against Black people (i.e Eric Garner, George Floyd, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Johnson and so many more), experiencing the presidency of Donald Trump, the January 6 attack, the Charlottesville Unite the Rally mayhem and so much more, it is quite sad that this 24-year-old man thinks that racism is dead.
The Michigan native added that Bailey didn’t get too upset over all the racist hoopla.
“She be laughing it off [but] they be going a little too hard. But I feel like the people are more attacking the character rather than her, personally.”
He said despite all the criticism, “it’s going number one, regardless!”
Portraying Ariel has been a life changing experience for Bailey, and bigots can’t steal her joy.
“I remember at the end of filming, wrap day, I was just sobbing because I truly felt like I had come out of this cocoon with Ariel,” she told People. “This story has done so much for me and the filming process has really kind of changed my life. I’d definitely say it mirrored what Ariel goes through in the film.”
Take a look at his full interview below.
