On May 24–25, 2024, North West took to the stage at The Hollywood Bowl as a young Simba in a live-to-film concert event celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Lion King. Starring in a gender-swapped version of the role, the 10-year-old was a special guest during the show and was welcomed onstage by Jason Weaver, the original singing voice of young Simba, who introduced her “Hollywood debut.”
West took to the stage alongside a live orchestra and dancers for a live rendition of the song “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from the original animated movie, and her performance is sparking nepotism discourse online. Shortly after clips of West’s performance started circulating online, users took to social media to share their qualms about the casting choice.
“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,” someone commented on X.
“Now I love me some North West, but there must have been a handful of truly talented 10-11 year olds [that] would have been a better Simba because they spent [years] working on their craft,” a second person added.
“Disney should be embarrassed they cast North West as Young Simba for Lion King’s 30th anniversary concert at the Hollywood Bowl. There are dozens of talented kids who are currently playing the roles of Young Simba & Nala all over the world, let alone the other kids who auditioned,” a third person added.
Kim Kardashian with North West backstage after her performance on « the lion king » I just know Kim cried 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/WnYcwleZzN
— leandre koffi (@leandek15) May 25, 2024
Others, however, had more issues with West’s costuming than the casting itself. “I won’t comment on the performance of North West at the Lion King live show because she’s 10. But what the hell is she wearing? Who thought, hey, she needs to look like Simba, pull out the yellow barrister wig? I’ve seen Walmart onesies that look better,” someone commented.
“My main complaint about this North West/Lion King situation is that she’s up on that stage in what is very clearly a Yeezy fit instead of an actual Simba costume. Like her costume literally just SCREAMS Kanye (and not in a good way),” a second person added.
my main complaint about this north west/lion king situation is that she’s up on that stage in what is very clearly a yeezy fit instead of an actual simba costume. like her costume literally just SCREAMS kanye (and not in a good way)
— 𝔰![CDATA[]]>𝔠![CDATA[]]>𝔬![CDATA[]]>𝔯![CDATA[]]>𝔭![CDATA[]]>𝔦![CDATA[]]>𝔬 𝔰![CDATA[]]>𝔭![CDATA[]]>𝔦![CDATA[]]>𝔠![CDATA[]]>𝔢 ✨ (@bookfaeriex_) May 28, 2024
“My only question about North West being cast as Simba is, why didn’t she have a better costume? She’s supposed to be a lion…be a lion…not a kid dressed as a lion on Halloween. It’s not her fault, but idk why they let her go on stage like that. It looked like DIY,” a third one echoed.
Despite reactions trickling in now, news of North West’s casting as Simba was actually announced earlier this month, with Deadline noting she was the “latest daughter of a major music artist to join a Lion King cast,” referring to Blue Ivy Carter’s role as Kiara in the upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King.
The original post can be found on Teen Vogue.
