Peter King, the makeup artist behind Ursula’s look the little MermaidPushing back on the backlash he’s received.
King is under heavy scrutiny from the LGBTQ+ community over Melissa McCarthy’s makeup in the live-action film directed by Rob Marshall. With Ursula being inspired by drag queen Divine, some believe it should have been someone in the queer community doing the makeup or giving life to the sea witch.
When asked about the controversy surrounding McCarthy’s look as Ursula, King told Insider in an interview, “I find it very disrespectful. Why can’t I do well as a queer makeup artist?”
“It’s ridiculous. It’s trying to claim that and that’s fine, if they want to do that, but don’t put people down because it’s not what they want,” King said.
makeup artists who have worked on features such as Lord of the Rings sonnet, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi And Spider-Man: Far From HomeSaid he doesn’t understand the negativity surrounding his work.
“I personally don’t get it. Yeah, I’m too old now, so that’s fine, I get that too, but, you know, a makeup artist or a makeup designer can design makeup, they One should not be attached to one’s nature. is doing,” he said.
King said he “discussed everything” with McCarthy and they both “bonded over how much they love drag queens and drag makeup and stuff”.
McCarthy started out as a drag queen performing in NYC under the name Miss Y.