North West faces backlash for Lion King as fans joke Kim ‘threw $200’ to get her the part
North West being given the role of Simba at a Lion King production has led to huge backlash. Parents of young audition-goers and fake ‘production assistants’ are now speaking out on North’s audition. Kim Kardashian fans have joked she “threw a couple hundred dollars” at the workers during North West‘s Lion King audition. The youngster […]
North West being given the role of Simba at a Lion King production has led to huge backlash. Parents of young audition-goers and fake ‘production assistants’ are now speaking out on North’s audition.
Kim Kardashian fans have joked she “threw a couple hundred dollars” at the workers during North West‘s Lion King audition. The youngster was brought in to play Simba in the production, but some people have slammed the decision a ‘nepo baby’ was chosen over other talented young hopefuls.
North West cast as Simba in the Lion King
North West was cast for the live Lion King role of Simba, in which she wore her own costume. She was a special guest in production at the Hollywood Bowl over Memorial Day weekend.
She performed as Young Simba in the May 24 and May 25 production, singing I Just Can’t Wait to be King from the animated film in honor of its 30th anniversary, but the role has led to serious backlash.
Billed as a “special guest” alongside Jennifer Hudson, Kim celebrated North’s stage debut online and shared several behind-the-scenes videos and images with her cast mates, getting ready.
Kim Kardashian ‘threw $200’ to get her the part, fans joke
A TikTokker joked in his video how the final kids were left in the running for the part – three girls and one boy – before an executive producer came in to introduce North to audition. She “beatboxed Animal Crackers song,” they joked.
Kim then “brought Gypsy Rose into the room pretending to be North’s manager,” the TikTokker hilariously said, even though her client “doesn’t rehearse” like the other talented kids.
He said how Kim “threw a couple hundred dollars at us” to get her daughter a part, before he ended the viral video with, “Everyone should go easy on her, she auditioned just like everyone else.”
The entire video, and all its contents may be a joke, but a lot of fans were duped, that is until the Gypsy Rose part came in. They then realized it’s all fake.
Parents of actors rage over casting
Parents of children who auditioned for the Simba role are reportedly raging over the decision, with many calling North a “nepo baby” for being Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter.
One particularly angry parent, whose claims her daughter has been on Broadway four times, alleges her child had been it through four rounds of callbacks – until she heard someone in the industry was “pulling strings”.
“We found out it was North West on that final audition. We had heard they wanted to cast a talented kid but one that doesn’t have a name because they wanted to uplift a smaller voice,” the mother continued.
She went on to claim Kim paid for her daughter to audition, saying North “does not have the experience as you could see,” and telling “Mr. Hollywood” she “hopes he learned his lesson not to cast a nepo baby”.
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