Snow White star Rachel Zegler‘s pro-Palestine posts have been blamed for a spike in death threats directed at her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot that grew so fierce Disney reportedly forked out for private security.
Zegler, 23, made movie executives nervous after she wrote ‘and always remember, free Palestine‘ after an X post last August in which she discussed the hype for the embattled fairytale film.
The comment allegedly caused a spike in death threats towards her 40-year-old co-star Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, according to Variety.
The Hollywood journal has suggested Gadot came under so much fire from fans that Disney top brass elected to hire security for the mother-of-four, who completed two years of mandatory Israel Defence Forces service as an instructor in her youth.
It’s the latest in a long line of controversies to tar the live-action remake of Disney’s classic, the first feature-length animation produced by the studio in 1937.
Zegler – who is set to appear in London‘s West End in a revival of Evita this year – took to X on August 13 last year a day after the first trailer for the live-action remake of the animated classic was released.
Thanking fans for watching the teaser, she wrote: ‘i love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind. i am in the thick of rehearsals for romeo + juliet so i’m gonna get outta here. bye for now.’
One minute later, she added: ‘and always remember, free palestine.’
The 23-year-old had thanked her fans in a X post in which she teased the fairytale flick in August of last year
Her comment allegedly caused a spike in the amount of death threats directed at her Israeli co-star Gadot
Zegler is seen here portraying the titular character alongside the seven dwarves in a handout
As of March 26, the first post has been liked 45,000 times; the second, 112,000 times.
It sent Disney executives into a spiral at a time of crisis for the $270million live-action remake, the latest of several ‘reimaginings’ of Disney classics that have, to date, been dimly received by critics.
Producer Marc Platt is reported to have flown from Los Angeles to New York to speak to her in person. However, the post remained online.
The New York Times reported last week that Platt had to remind her how much was at stake with the movie and her career before asking her to ‘post heedfully’.
One insider told Variety: ‘She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone.’
Platt headed home to LA confident he’d gotten through to Zegler, who won a Golden Globe for her film debut performance as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.
However, the actress set alarm bells ringing after posting a fresh rant in November last year after Donald Trump won his second presidential election.
‘May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace,’ she fumed on an Instagram story, seemingly posted during the interval of a performance of Romeo + Juliet on Broadway.
‘There is also a deep, deep sickness in this country that is shown in the sheer amount of people who showed up for this man who threatens our democracy.’
She signed off the posts with: ‘I will love through these four years as best as I can. F*** Donald Trump.’
Rachel Zegler’s controversial pro-Palestine tweet came a day after the first trailer for the Snow White remake was released
The film has been dimly received by critics. It has an approval rating of 42 per cent among critics on Rotten Tomatoes – but audience ratings are higher
The film is a remake of the 1937 classic, which was Walt Disney Studios’ first feature-length animation
Variety report that Zegler relented and began working with a social media manager in the run up to the film’s opening weekend last week.
Disney bosses reportedly reached breaking point with the Trump posts as it became clear she was potentially discouraging the 49.8 per cent of Americans who voted for Trump in the popular vote to see the film.
She also apologised after the Trump post, writing on Instagram: ‘Hatred and anger have caused us to move further and further away from peace and understanding, and I am sorry I contributed to the negative discourse.’
Gadot, for her part, has limited her posts on the Israel-Hamas war to videos calling for the return of hostages taken on October 7 2023, and an Instagram post that read: ‘I stand with Israel you should too.’
She also told the Anti-Defamation League’s annual summit on 4 March: Never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States, and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying and cheering on a massacre of Jews.’
She has previously expressed support for the IDF – with whom she completed mandatory service. She has also expressed horror at the deaths of ‘innocent Palestinians’ and ‘innocent Israelis’ in the Israel-Hamas war in an Instagram post – which she later amended to remove the reference to Palestinians.
Sources suggested to Variety that Zegler and Gadot got on well during production – but that they became distant in the run up to the film’s release.
Disney was also accused of fuelling the perception of a feud between the pair by scheduling them for separate appearances during press junkets.
And when Wonder Woman star Gadot appeared in Los Angeles last week to unveil her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the event was picketed by pro-Palestine activists.
Some carried placards of Gadot in her role as the Evil Queen, captioned: ‘Snow White supports genocide’.
But the row – and the effect it may have had on Gadot, whose Instagram posts are littered with comments from pro-Palestine supporters – is just the latest scandal to plague this troubled remake.
Zegler’s so-called ‘colour-blind’ casting as a Latina actress of Colombian descent courted controversy – to which she responded: ‘yes i am snow white no I am not bleaching my skin for the role.’
She also panned the original film for what she sees as a ‘sexist’ traditional romance plot, and revealed she refused to sing the original’s iconic Someday My Prince Will Come – which now only appears as an instrumental.
‘There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird,’ she said at the 2022 D23 Expo.
Gal Gadot’s Hollywood Walk of Fame unveiling ceremony was picketed by pro-Palestine activists last week (pictured)
Some carried signs accusing either the film, Disney or Gadot herself of supporting ‘genocide’
Zegler previously revealed she refused to sing the beloved song Some Day My Prince Will Come from the 1937 classic, calling it weird. It is not sung in the completed film
But last week she appeared to have had a change of heart, as she took to Instagram to share a new hairdo inspired by Adriana Caselotti, who voiced Snow White in the animated film.
Posing for a coquettish shoot with a bow in her hair and feigning laughter, Zegler wrote: ‘Just had to pay homage to the original snow white, miss Adriana Caselotti, to whom I owe everything.’
The film was also plagued with other controversies outside of Zegler’s comments, amid accusations of a ‘woke’ clean-up job to remove dated cultural references and stereotypes.
Dwarf actors including Peter Dinklage and Jason Acuna – better known as ‘Wee Man’ in MTV prank series Jackass – criticised the decision not to hire actors with dwarfism to play Doc, Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy and Sleepy.
However, Disney executives will be wincing at the film’s worldwide box office weekend takings – the most important figures for any new film, at the point of maximum audience interest.
Against a budget of $270million – including reshoots, but excluding marketing – the film took just $87 million worldwide, with top brass at Disney now evaluating what went wrong.
The figures place the film below Disney’s Little Mermaid remake, which premiered in 2023 and made $95million during opening.
Disney’s 2019 Dumbo remake made $2.6million in previews and profited a total of $45million on opening weekend. However, Dumbo only required $170million to make.
Despite the underperforming figures, Snow White did rank higher than Disney’s Cinderella remake, which only grossed $2.3 million in previews.
Zegler was critically hailed for her turn as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story – her film debut, for which she won a Golden Globe
Gal Gadot is seen here in a scene of the new film which hit screen globally over the weekend
The film has also failed to impress critics, clocking in at only 42 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience ratings are higher, at 74 per cent.
Reshoots and additional visual effects work were carried out after executives were unimpressed with early cuts, pushing the cost up from the original budget of $210million.
A dozen of studio heads then reportedly watched the film over and over in Los Angeles, scrutinising every frame, before sending notes to director to Mark Webb on ‘waxy’ looking CGI dwarfs
Two days later they emerged after watching the film over and over, scrutinizing the whole movie frame by frame, looking to improve it further.
Three people with knowledge of the marathon analysis told the Times about the session, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Greenbaum made comments that the CGI dwarfs looked ‘waxy’, and said that some footage should be shot on location. It was also decided that the bandit storyline would be tightened up.
Director Mark Webb continued to work on the project, including its sound and colour grading, until February.
Daily Mail’s Brian Viner gave Snow White two out of five stars, calling it a ‘painfully muddle-headed affair’ and ‘pallid reimagining’ but admitted Zegler ‘plainly has oodles of talent.’
