Mena Massoud, the star of Disney’s 2019 live-action Aladdin remake, has deleted his Twitter account after taking heat for ever-so-slightly critical comments about the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
On Friday, May 13, Massoud responded to a post that compared the opening weekends of his film and this week’s debut of The Little Mermaid — which noted that Mermaid “is tracking to earn $115M on its domestic box office opening weekend,” adding the context: “In comparison, ‘ALADDIN’ earned $112M on its opening.”
‘THE LITTLE MERMAID’ is tracking to earn $115M on its domestic box office opening weekend.
In comparison, ‘ALADDIN’ earned $112M on its opening. pic.twitter.com/vpIoYcYcQ2
— The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) May 12, 2023
Massoud, though, seemed to get his hackles up a bit about the comparison, in a since-deleted post captured by TMZ.
“Our film was unique in that audiences went to watch it multiple times. It’s the only way we reached the billion dollar mark with our opening,” he wroted. “‘Aladdin’ went on to make $1.054 bil internationally … and its initial box office numbers were considered a big win.”
But then he added a line which crossed the line for Mermaid devotees.
“My guess is TLM doesn’t cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel,” he concluded.
‘Aladdin’ star Mena Massoud deactivated his Twitter account after receiving backlash for his Tweet about ‘The Little Mermaid.’ pic.twitter.com/KFHuffOLZL
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 13, 2023
Many commenters lambasted Massoud for his thought crimes against the Next Disney Product.
The attacks on his post came in so fast that it appears Massoud deleted his entire Twitter account.
Of course, Disney’s Mermaid remake has been under a microscope after casting black actress Halle Bailey to star in the title role of Ariel, a character that has traditionally been portrayed as European thanks to her origins in a story by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
When the trailer for the film was first released, it quickly racked up more than one million dislikes, a fact that Disney and its supporters blamed on “MAGA racists.”
Consequently, with the woke proclamation that any criticism of Mermaid at all is being defined as being based in racism, it may not be surprising that Massoud was so quickly excoriated for his tweets about Mermaid’s earning power.
As its debut neared, the film garnered controversy due to signs it would, like virtually every other Disney project, launder woke ideology to children.
In one case, Hollywood star Melissa McCarthy, who was cast to play sea witch villain Ursula, insisted that her character is somehow “rooted” in drag queens.
In April, the Bridesmaids and Nine Perfect Strangers star said she “100 percent” drew inspiration from drag queens for her performance as the movie’s big baddie.
“There’s a drag queen [who] lives in me. I’m always right on the verge of going full-time with her,” said McCarthy, who began her performing career in New York’s nightlife as drag queen Miss Y.
Speaking of drag queens, Disney also invited a drag performer to the movie’s world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Then there is the fact that Disney re-wrote some of the songs for the musical film because the previous tunes weren’t woke enough.
Also in April, Disney admitted that it re-worked the lyrics in “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” so that they better conformed to the woke #MeToo agenda.
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