Yara Shahidi faces racist backlash for Tinkerbell role in ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’

Yara Shahidi is facing racist backlash for being the first Black actress to play Tinkerbell in Disney’s live-action adaptation “Peter Pan and Wendy.”

The hate is pouring in on Twitter following the release of the trailer for the upcoming movie. One tweet read, “Black Tinkerbell. Black Little Mermaid. Black Cinderella. Brown Snow White. The blackwashing of White culture continues.”

Another user added, “What’s the point of race-swapping Tinkerbell?”

“Disney couldn’t care less about making new stories with Poc characters, they just put poc ppl to play white characters, and that shows 1) how lazy Disney is 2) how racist this is, it’s like they don’t think poc ppl deserve their own stories (beside like 3 animated movies?),” another Twitter user wrote.

First look at Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell in Disney's ‘Peter Pan & Wendy.’ pic.twitter.com/13SCOvCZAN

— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 28, 2023

Shahidi is receiving the same racist harassment that Halle Bailey continues to face over her role in Disney’s live-action feature “The Little Mermaid”.

When a new trailer dropped on Feb. 15, Bailey once again found herself targeted by haters on social media. Many fans of the beloved Disney title are outraged that a Black woman is taking on the role of Princess Ariel.

“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore,” Bailey told The Face in a new interview. ​”When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, [Beyoncé] was always like: ​’I never read my comments. Don’t ever read the comments.’ Honestly, when the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”

“I know people are like: ​’It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her…People don’t understand that when you’re Black there’s this whole other community,” she added. “It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”

Meanwhile, “Peter Pan and Wendy,” directed by David Lowery, stars Alexander Molony and Ever Anderson as Peter Pan and Wendy, with Jude Law as Captain Hook.

“Peter Pan & Wendy” will debut April 28 on Disney+