‘Aladdin’ star Mena Massoud deletes Twitter after backlash over ‘Little Mermaid’ comment
By Bryan Ke
May 15, 2023
“Aladdin” star Mena Massoud has seemingly deleted his Twitter account after social media users criticized him for being “jealous” of Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.”
Massoud, 31, drew flak with his response to entertainment site The Hollywood Handle’s tweet about how “The Little Mermaid” is expected to perform on its opening domestic weekend later this month.
“‘THE LITTLE MERMAID’ is tracking to earn $115M on its domestic box office opening weekend. In comparison, ‘ALADDIN’ earned $112M on its opening,” The Hollywood Handle wrote.
While the tweet notes that “Aladdin” made $112 million on its opening domestic weekend, which happened to coincide with Memorial Day weekend between May 24 and May 27, 2019, Box Office Mojo recorded a total of around $116.8 million.
Twitter user @BillBrasky2620 retweeted The Hollywood Handle’s post and further noted that “Aladdin,” directed by Guy Ritchie, made over $1 billion at the global box office.
“ALADDIN managed to end up at over a billion worldwide,” the Twitter user wrote. “It depends on how well this holds up against SPIDER-VERSE the following week I guess.”
Replying to @BillBrasky2620, Massoud wrote in his now-deleted tweet that “Aladdin” crossed the billion-dollar mark because moviegoers returned to cinemas to rewatch the film, then added that “The Little Mermaid” may not be as successful.
“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 TLM [‘The Little Mermaid’] doesn’t cross the billion mark but will undoubtedly get a sequel.”
Several Twitter users said that Massoud was “bitter” and “jealous” because of the attention “The Little Mermaid” has been receiving, while some declared that his “Aladdin” co-stars, Will Smith and Naomi Scott, carried his film.
“Just bitter Will Smith and Naomi Scott were bigger stars than him & carried the film,” one Twitter user wrote. “No one knows who Mena is. We don’t know yet if TLM will get a part 2 but bet they’ll do a live adaptation to TLM2:Returntothesea don’t know if they’ll keep it canon to Halle’s TLM.”
“Sir you’re being bitter cuz the movie is doing way better than aladdin despite it not even being out yet,” another user wrote.
“Mena Massoud is bitter and jealous,” anoter user said. “Remember when he said that after Aladdin he thought he will receive many offer but nothing. So seeing the success of Little Mermaid gave him a bittersweet. The audacity to say this when Halle was hate for playing the role because she’s black.”
Following the backlash, several Twitter users pointed out that Massoud’s Twitter account has been deleted.
As of this writing, it appears his Twitter account has been taken down. However, his Instagram account, which currently has over 2.9 million followers, remains active.
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