'Aladdin' Star Mena Massoud Leaves Twitter After Shading 'Little Mermaid'
By Jovonne Ledet
May 15, 2023
Mena Massoud, who starred as Aladdin in the movie's 2019 remake, has deleted his Twitter after facing backlash for his commentary on Disney's latest box office film, The Little Mermaid, TMZ reports.
The Twitter debacle began with Massoud's response to a tweet reporting that The Little Mermaid was on track to earn more than Aladdin in its opening weekend.
"'The Little Mermaid' is tracking to earn $115M on its domestic box office opening weekend. In comparison, ‘Aladdin' earned $112M on its opening," a tweet by The Hollywood Handle reads.
‘THE LITTLE MERMAID’ is tracking to earn $115M on its domestic box office opening weekend.
— The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) May 12, 2023
In comparison, ‘ALADDIN’ earned $112M on its opening. pic.twitter.com/vpIoYcYcQ2
In a now-deleted tweet, Massoud claimed that the Halle Bailey film wouldn't "cross the billion mark" because viewers won't come to see the movie more than once as they did for Aladdin.
"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. My guess is [The Little Mermaid] doesn't cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel," Massoud tweeted.
The Aladdin star's comment sent social media into an uproar. Many Twitter users felt Massoud was shading The Little Mermaid by suggesting it wasn't worthy of a possible sequel. Others believe Massoud was "bitter" that The Little Mermaid was on track to outperform his 2019 film.
sir you’re being bitter cuz the movie is doing way better than aladdin despite it not even being out yet...😶 https://t.co/GArEn2KPbF pic.twitter.com/tek2I0U7ej
— 🛸kee ‧₊˚•⭑* clankie stan (@Anarkee_) May 13, 2023
mena massoud being bitter and racist cuz aladdin's will not be getting a sequel after all and little mermaid is considered the best disney live action movie without being officially released 🫠
— diogosantos (@odiogosantos) May 13, 2023
Aladdin tried it. 🙄let’s show up and show out for the little mermaid like we did for black panther. Tired of these folks trying Halle like she isn’t THAT girl. Stunningggg and extremely talented. Bye devil! 🤸🏽♂️Declaring her movie sales will be over 1.7 Bill. You watch God work. pic.twitter.com/yFfVgWTosD
— Just Micole (@MsMicolefoster) May 13, 2023
Not Mena Massoud tryna pipe up and speak on The Little Mermaid. Just checked “mr billion dollar movie’s” IMDB post Aladdin and it’s giving unemployed 💀 pic.twitter.com/IxUfC3dXfb
— ♡ (@cherryfizzcamo) May 13, 2023
who wants an Aladdin 2? …… anybody?? pic.twitter.com/HrtCespBwd
— SIERRA (@sierra1ynette) May 13, 2023
Following the widespread backlash, Massoud deleted his Twitter. The actor has yet to publicly respond to criticism of his comment.
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