Even when you’re a powerhouse like Disney, having to explain why a $270 million film is underperforming at the box office becomes a necessity. This is what is happening with Snow White following its $43 million debut, which was well below expectations. The film has been at the center of various controversies, beginning in the development phase through its release over the weekend. The latest issue appears to be the blame game regarding the film’s lower-than-expected box office start, and that seems to be being put squarely on its star, Rachel Zegler. It’s an unfair assertion, but that hasn’t stopped the son of producer Marc Platt from adding on to the head-scratching narrative that Zegler is solely to blame for the film’s reception.
This all began with a piece written by Variety about the behind-the-scenes turmoil involving Snow White. The write-up covers a lot, but much of it seems to point to Zegler and her social media posts being blamed for the drama surrounding its release and subsequent polarizing reception. As has been reported, while promoting the release of the film’s first trailer on X, the actress thanked her fans for supporting her and followed that up with a separate post that read, “and always remember, free Palestine.” This post put Disney in a frenzy and led to executives contacting Zegler’s team, along with the film’s producer, Marc Platt, personally flying to New York to speak with her about the post.
According to reports, her co-star Gal Gadot, who is Israeli, received numerous death threats after Zegler made the post, which resulted in Disney paying for increased security for Gadot and her family. As one person put it, “She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone.” Meanwhile, Gadot’s own controversial comments and political stance were not targeted by the Variety article.
Fast-forward to this piece gaining traction online and the social media wave siding with Zegler more than some realized, as they feel she has a right to free speech. Some took Platt to task for seemingly reprimanding Zegler, who seemed to scold her further when the actress shared a post following the presidential election that read, “F*** Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters never know peace.” This led to Platt saying that she was implying that the upcoming Disney film wasn’t for a certain chunk of America, and they both agreed to Zegler working with a social media guru who approved all of her posts leading up to the film’s release.
A user on Instagram by the name of @brynnd13 took issue with this and sent a comment to Jonah Platt, Marc’s son, that read, “Your dad flew to NYC to reprimand a young actress? Any words on this? Cuz that’s creepy as hell and uncalled-for. People have the right to free speech, no? Shame on your father.” Platt’s response was very pointed and, honestly, pretty tone-deaf as he continued the narrative that Zegler is to be blamed for the failure of Snow White.
“You really want to do this? Yeah, my dad, the producer of enormous piece of Disney IP with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, had to leave his family to fly across the country to reprimand his 20 year old employee for dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting the movie for which she signed a multi-million dollar contract to get paid and do publicity for. This is called adult responsibility and accountability. And her actions clearly hurt the film’s box office. Free speech does not mean you’re allowed to say whatever you want in your private employment with repercussions. Tens of thousands of people worked on that film, and she hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of all the colleagues and crew and blue collar workers who depend on that movie to be successful. Narcissim is not something to be coddled or encouraged.”
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There is a lot wrong with what he said, but there seems to be a double standard at play here. Gadot consistently posted about “I stand with Israel,” which is her right, and she did so, maybe not while directly promoting Snow White, but she did it ahead of the film’s release with millions knowing she was a part of the film. Both actresses are entitled to their opinions, but it just seems like Gadot didn’t get the same pushback for bringing her personal politics into the chat before the film came out. In fact, during a recent interview before Snow White was released, Gadot had this to say:
“Who cares about the celebrity talking about politics? I’m an artist. I want to entertain people. I want to bring hope and be a beacon of light whenever I say anything about the world. But, on Oct. 7, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent. I was shocked by the amount of hate, by the amount of how much people think they know when they actually have no idea, and also by how the media is not fair many times. So I had to speak up.”
This is all to say, both of these women are entitled to their opinion, but scolding one over the other seems in poor taste. I’d also love to see if Disney actively protected Zegler from racist trolls who took issue when her casting as Snow White was announced because it was vicious and continues to be. Perhaps the producers should’ve kept the film’s $270 million budget in check, or maybe people are tired of live-action Disney remakes. Whatever the case, putting the blame on Zegler in the media is just wrong.
4
/5
March 21, 2025
109 Minutes
Marc Webb
Erin Cressida Wilson, Wilhelm Grimm
Callum McDougall, Marc Platt
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