The Little Mermaid makeup artist reacts to 'offensive,' 'ridiculous' criticism of Ursula's look
'The Little Mermaid' makeup artist reacted to 'ridiculous' criticism targeting Melissa McCarthy's Ursula makeup: 'Why can't I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist?' https://t.co/dsfQWbQaJE
- Entertainment Weekly (@EW) May 26, 2023
The makeup artist for the Little Mermaid remake, Peter King, has received criticism (from, among others, professional drag queens and contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race) over Ursula's look in the film with people saying a member of the LGBTQIA+ community should've been hired in his place given the historical context of Ursula's character (she was based off drag queen Divine).
“When you lie on your resume and end up with the job,” RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Art Simone commented on a tweet showing McCarthy getting her makeup applied.
“[This is] absolutely why we should hire up and coming queer artists with a pulse on the present and a vision for the future more often,” former Drag Race contestant Denali added.
"I find that very offensive," King told Insider. "Why can't I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist? That's ridiculous. That's trying to claim it and that's fine, if that's what they wanna do, but don't put people down because they're not what they want it to be. I personally don't get it. Yes, I'm very old now, so that's fine, I get that too, but you know, a makeup artist or makeup designer could design makeup, they don't have to have an attachment to the nature of what they're doing."
"I'm a huge, huge fan of drag shows and the whole art of it and the entertainment of it," Melissa McCarthy previously told EW, noting that she used drag performers as inspiration for her take on Ursula. "I've been going to shows since I was not supposed to be going to shows. There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full time with her."