Halle Bailey's 'Stunning' ESPYs Dress Had A Subtle Nod To 'The Little Mermaid'

For the first time, Halle Bailey was a presenter at the ESPYs, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award, which took place on Thursday, July 11.

This annual awards show, presented by ESPN, is to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance throughout the year. Some of the notable winners at the 2024 ESPYs include Simone Biles, who took home the Comeback Athlete award, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers for Best MLB Player, and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs for Best NFL Player.

While the night focused on sports, fans couldn't help but notice Halle Bailey's dress, which had a subtle nod to "The Little Mermaid" character, Ariel.

The actress brought out her flirty side as she showed off her body in a black velvet minidress dazzled with its gold flower-shaped bra details and a charming little cutout on the bodice. Her look was completed with a pair of strappy black heels and gold flower earrings.

Ahead of the ESPYs, Bailey told WWD that she “wanted to wear something that makes me feel great in my own skin, especially in this new phase of my life," referring to becoming a mom.

The dress is from Raisa Vanessa’s fall 2024 ready-to-wear collection. While it fits Bailey's body perfectly, many are pointing out the subtle nod to Ariel, the character she portrayed in the live-action Disney movie "The Little Mermaid."

The actress and singer shared photos from her time at the sports award show, and her fans immediately caught onto the "Little Mermaid" nod.

"Ariel!" one Instagram user commented, adding three heart-eyed emojis, as another simply shared a GIF of Bailey as the mermaid. For those who don't see it, look closely at the gold on the dress -- that portion resembles Ariel's seashell bra.

"Still reaping the little mermaid," a third user pointed out.

Others complimented Halle Bailey's stylist. "Stylist never misses, omg," one of her fans said. Another wrote, "I loved this whole look and fit."

"You just do it for me every single time, Halle," someone else said.

Disney cast Halle Bailey to play Ariel in the live-action adaptation, but she soon faced backlash over her race. Despite the criticism, she remained determined to break barriers and make her mark.

“I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special and that they should be a princess in every single way,” Bailey told Variety. “There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed.”

Ahead of the premiere, Halle Bailey wanted to send a message to all her younger fans who have never seen themselves as their favorite princesses.

"I hope that they just know that they are worthy, and we deserve to be in these spaces, "Bailey told "Good Morning America" when on the red carpet for the world premiere of the live-action "The Little Mermaid." "And I hope they see themselves and me on the screen."

"I'm just grateful to be here. There were women before me like Brandy and Anika Rose who were the blueprint for me even to be here today, so I'm just taking this moment all in," she later told the ABC show.

The "The Color Purple" actress welcomed her first baby in December 2023 with DDG, but she didn't publicly announce the birth of Halo until January.

“Even though we’re a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me was bring me my son,” Bailey shared on social media at the time. “Welcome to the world, my Halo. The world is desperate to know you."

Hallie Bailey later shared her postpartum journey with the public in hopes of helping others who may be struggling.

"I just wanted to speak a little bit about my postpartum journey as a new mom," the actress said in a video on her social media. "I have severe, severe postpartum [depression], and I don't know if any new moms can relate, but it's to the point where it's really bad, and it's hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start to kind of freak out."