Sterling K. Brown Unabashedly Fanned Out Over His ‘Little Mermaid’ Halle Bailey On The 2024 SAG Awards Pre-Ceremony Carpet

The 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards featured several notable moments. From Barbra Streisand’s Life Achievement Award speech to Pedro Pascal being swept up in Ciara’s beauty and even Billie Eilish signing superfan Melissa McCarthy’s face, the ceremony had something for all to enjoy.

But the most sincere moment occurred during the event’s preshow when Sterling K. Brown and his wife (fellow actor) Ryan Michelle Bathe paused their interview to praise Halle Bailey. As the couple spoke with Entertainment Tonight, Brown unabashedly fanned out over Bailey, specifically, her performance in 2023’s The Little Mermaid (directed by Rob Marshall). Watch the full clip below.

Brown displayed his inner thespian with an impromptu reenactment of Bailey’s recreating the mermaid’s infamous water hair flip. Although Bailey was there as a cast nominee for The Color Purple, she didn’t mind chatting about her box office smash as the fictional Princess Ariel. As Bailey relived the moment, Brown’s kind words began to sink in; she was nearly moving to tears.

Bailey didn’t leave with a trophy but still enjoyed herself, according to her post on X (formerly Twitter). “I was so honored to be nominated with my beautiful ‘Color Purple’ cast and family,” she wrote. “Such a fun night.”