Yahoo Movies 13 Reasons Why's Christian Navarro Slams Disney for Casting 'the White Guy' in The Little Mermaid
Disney has found its prince — and Christian Navarro is not happy about it.
Shortly after it was announced that Jonah Hauer-King had landed the role of Ariel’s love interest, Prince Eric, in the upcoming live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid, Navarro, 28, shared his thoughts about the casting decision on social media.
In two since-deleted posts on Instagram and Twitter, the 13 Reasons Why star — who was also reportedly in the running for the role of Prince Eric — slammed Disney for its alleged lack of diversity.
“Literally @disney saw a who’s who list of actors of color and STILL went with the white guy,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of Hauer-King, which was captured by a fan before it was removed. “So much for diversity. I guess two brown leads would have tanked the movie right? Boring.”
RELATED: Everything to Know About The Little Mermaid‘s New Prince Eric, Jonah Hauer-King
Navarro also took his frustrations out by reactivating his Twitter, posting a tweet about the casting, and subsequently deactivating his account.
“Just came back to say; after months of seeing every person of color they could think of for the role of Prince Eric, @DisneyStudios somehow still cast a white guy,” he tweeted. “I guess diversity is just a word. And THATS Hollywood.”
“One brown person is enough, two brown leads is unthinkable,” he added, referencing Halle Bailey, who is set to star opposite Hauer-King as Ariel.
Reps for Navarro, Hauer-King, and Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Hauer-King’s casting was made official earlier this week. The British actor, 24, is the only other major cast member besides Bailey to be confirmed thus far.
Others reported to have signed on or be in talks for the Rob Marshall-directed film are Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
In addition to Navarro, Harry Styles was also being considered to play Prince Eric. But even though the former One Direction member “is a fan of the project,” a source close to the film told PEOPLE in August that Styles, 25, “respectfully declined the offer.”
“I want to put music out and focus on that for a while. But everyone involved in it was amazing, so I think it’s going to be great,” Styles told The Face magazine in September, sharing that a possible role for him “was discussed” but never came to fruition.
“I’ll enjoy watching it, I’m sure,” the singer added.
The casting of African-American actress Bailey, 19, as Ariel, triggered racist backlash when it was announced. Some Internet users even started a petition titled #NotMyAriel to have Disney recast the character with a white actress resembling the red-headed underwater princess from the 1989 animated film.
The racist comments were soon addressed by Disney’s cable network Freeform and Jodie Benson, the original voice of Ariel in the 1989 film..
“No matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect… we really need to tell the story,” Benson said at Florida Supercon.
“Yes. The original author of The Little Mermaid was Danish. Ariel…is a mermaid. She lives in an underwater kingdom in international waters and can legit swim wherever she wants (even though that often upsets King Triton, absolute zaddy),” Freeform added in a post on Instagram. “But for the sake of argument, let’s say that Ariel, too, is Danish.”
“Danish mermaids can be black because Danish *people* can be black,” the letter continued. “Ariel can sneak up to the surface at any time with her pals Scuttle and the *ahem* Jamaican crab Sebastian (sorry, Flounder!) and keep that bronze base tight. Black Danish people, and this mer-folk, can also *genetically* (!!!) have red hair.”
