Favourite 16 replies to people angry that new Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey is neither white nor a redhead

Disney has announced that American singer Halle Bailey will star in the lead role of their live action version of The Little Mermaid.

And with grim predictability some people weren’t happy because Bailey is black and they insist that the Little Mermaid has to be white. With red hair.

People like this, for instance.

https://twitter.com/meggg_elaine/status/1146530988819959808

And this.

https://twitter.com/woo_ahhh/status/1146542249938960390

Fortunately for everyone concerned there was no shortage of people ready to put them right. Here are our favourite 14 responses.

1.

They should have found an actual half woman and half fish to play Ariel. This is Bullshit!

— Unlikable Lisa (@LisaDarling79) July 4, 2019

2.

She’s a mermaid Becky, they don’t really exist, unlike your racism.

— SMDH at Bros🥀🍩 (@AYFKMPEOPLE) July 3, 2019

3.

Fact box: the Little Mermaid lives on a TROPICAL CORAL REEF with a calypso-singing lobster with a strong Jamaican accent. When you think about it, it's bizarre she was white the first time around.

— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) July 4, 2019

4.

All these idiots angry about a black woman playing Ariel, yet were totally fine with the mixed race relationship in the original of a man & a half fish. I want to see full conviction of their beliefs and start a petition for Ariel to be played by a manatee.

— Tiernan Douieb (@TiernanDouieb) July 4, 2019

5.

I see today the Master Race is throwing a tantrum because the imaginary cartoon offspring of man who banged a fish isn't quite white enough for their tastes

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) July 4, 2019

6.

https://twitter.com/TheHaydenWilder/status/1146677464359305216

7.

https://twitter.com/HillaryMonahan/status/1146551030135558145

8.

If they actually wanted to do a realistic 2019 reboot, they’d have two hours of rescuers trying to untangle Ariel from a polluted, plastic-filled sea while Sebastian slowly boils to death.

— Sara Gibbs (@Sara_Rose_G) July 4, 2019