Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West is catching heat after taking the stage in a Memorial Day weekend production of “The Lion King” at The Hollywood Bowl. The live concert special was a two-night event honoring the 30th anniversary of the animated film.
But North didn’t just have any role — she wasn’t covered up somewhere as “Giraffe Number One.” The 10-year-old was one of the stars, playing the role of Young Simba and singing the hit song “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” Other celebrity guests included Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Jennifer Hudson and Jason Weaver, who voiced Young Simba in the 1994 film.
Although proud mama Kim beamed with pride over her daughter’s performance, the social media backlash came fast and furious from those who thought North had no business being in the lead role.
“I’m sorry, but casting North West as Simba when there are hundreds of properly trained theatre kids with voice coaches, dance skills, and experience was a HORRIBLE choice. It definitely makes you question the credibility of the casting director. You let Kim pay to ruin your show,” wrote @_RichieDinero on X.
But not everyone agreed with the outrage that North West leaned on her Kardashian connection to snag her role. Author Marc Lamont Hill argued that nepotism is nothing new in Hollywood. When it comes to casting, he says, eyeballs and ticket sales often trump talent. I mean, have you seen “Belly?”
“In every movie, every play, every domain of pop culture, somebody casts somebody who’s not that good...We’ve put rappers in movies for the last 30 years ... and the reason we do it is because people are famous and famous people bring in tickets,” he told TMZ.
There are plenty of nepo babies who totally deserve all of the shine, including Zoë Kravitz, John David Washington, Rashida Jones, Maya Rudolph, and, of course, Tracee Ellis Ross.
But tone deaf or not, the show’s producers knew what they were doing when they cast North as Young Simba. We probably wouldn’t even be talking about this production if it weren’t for all of the chatter. And because people are talking about it now, even more people will want to see (and judge) North’s performance for themselves when “The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl” streams on Disney+.