NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Freeform supports Halle Bailey’s Ariel casting amid backlash

LOS ANGELES

A Disney-owned cable network has taken aim at critics who disagreed with the decision to cast Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming adaption of “The Little Mermaid.”

Freeform posted an open letter Sunday in support of Bailey after some on social media used the hashtag #NotMyAriel to object to a black woman portraying the red-headed mermaid princess of the animated film. But the network says “Danish mermaids can be black because Danish *people* can be black.”

Bailey is half of the sister duo Chloe x Halle. She will star in the live-action version that will include songs from the 1989 animated Disney hit as well as new tunes from original composer Alan Menken and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Bailey will join Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina in the film.

Hosting ESPYs is personal for Tracy Morgan

LOS ANGELES

For Tracy Morgan, hosting The ESPYs is personal. It’s not just another gig to the comedian.

The star of TBS’ “The Last O.G.” will preside over Wednesday night’s show honoring the past year’s top athletes, performances and achievements. It airs live on ABC from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

“The main reason I really wanted to do it is the fight against cancer,” Morgan said in a recent phone interview, explaining that his grandparents and former wife, Sabina, died of the disease. “I have an opportunity to fight their cause, and I’m all in.”

Besides the laughs, The ESPYs raise awareness and funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. It’s the charity founded by ESPN and the late basketball coach Jim Valvano at the first show in 1993. The cable sports network has helped raise nearly $97 million for the V Foundation in 26 years.

“We’ll have a great time, but the most important thing is Jim Valvano. I’ll never forget watching him at the ESPYs,” Morgan said. “We forget sometimes the cause. We enjoy being there, but we got to understand the reason why we’re there. It’s an opportunity to give back. I’m in service to others.”

Morgan said he’s a big sports fan, dating to his childhood in Brooklyn. As a youngster, he remembers watching father Jimmy and uncle Alvin Morgan play football.

As a teenager, he met Mark Breland when the 1984 Olympic welterweight champion brought his gold medal to their shared Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood and “all the kids running around touching the medal,” he said.

Morgan ran track in high school, competing in the 100- and 200- meter dashes and 55- and 110-meter hurdles.

Associated Press