Disney Is “browning” White Extras For Live-action “aladdin” Remake

Scott Weinger as Aladdin in "Aladdin" (Credit: Walt Disney Pictures) Disney has come under fire after it was reported that during the filming of the live-action remake of “Aladdin,” the members of the production crew have been “browning up” white extras to simulate an South Asian ethnicity. Disney admitted to the Sunday Times that “it resorted to darkening white people for roles requiring skills that could not be readily found in the Asian community, such as stunt men, dancers and camel handlers,” the publication reported. The movie, starring Will Smith and directed by Guy Ritchie, is currently being filmed at Longcross Studios in Surrey, which is 30 miles from London and, as the Times reported, close to a sizable South Asian community. The backlash has been so intense that Disney responded, though its statement didn’t do much good.