Actress Stephanie Mills hasn't met Halle Bailey, but she relates to her situation. She's been watching the comments roll in on social media and thinking about how they resemble the racist things she was told when she was set to play Dorothy in the 1974 Broadway production of "The Wiz." In her Facebook post, she wrote, "They told me I would never make it on Broadway, they told me I couldn't sing, they told me I was too dark. I have watched and listened to 'they' try to tell you why you shouldn't and couldn't. ... I am so proud of you and how you handled all the naysayers."

Bailey relied largely on friends and family to cope with the backlash. She told The Face that she spoke with her grandparents who had grown up during the Jim Crow Era. Their conversations helped her see society's progress.

While upsetting, the racist backlash wasn't surprising for Bailey. "As a Black person, you just expect it and it's not really a shock anymore," Bailey told The Face. She went on to explain how the celebrity who has been her mentor, 32-time Grammy winner Beyonce, told her to never look at the comment section on social media. Bailey said she listened.