Rachel Zegler defends her pro-Palestine stance amid reported pressure from Disney, as critics express concerns over potential blacklisting. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Rachel Zegler, the star of Disney’s critically panned live-action adaptation of Snow White, has reportedly faced intensifying pressure from studio executives to reverse her public support for a ‘Free Palestine’ on social media, leading the actor to defend her actions.
According to reports on Wednesday, Zegler was criticised by executives after a staunchly pro-Palestine social media post published last year came to light.
Variety reported that the post led to an unnamed Disney executive opposing Zegler’s actions in discussions with her team, and Snow White producer Marc Platt flying to New York to “speak directly” to the actress.
Last August, Zegler attended Disney’s D23 fan event to promote the release of Snow White’s official trailer.
A few days after her appearance, Zegler thanked fans for the trailer having already amassed 120 million views in 24 hours, adding in a follow-up post, “and always remember, free Palestine.”
Variety further reported that Zegler insisted on keeping the post on her social media account, as Disney executives discussed the matter with her representatives.
Sources who spoke to the outlet conflated Zegler’s remarks with death threats allegedly sent towards her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot.
“She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone,” one source told Variety.
The outlet added that Disney producer Platt later reached out to Zegler following another post, where the singer-actress took to Instagram to criticise Donald Trump after his US presidential election win last year.
“F*ck Donald Trump. May Trump supporters… never know peace,” she wrote in a post.
Variety additionally reported that Disney subsequently hired a “social media guru” to review all Zegler’s posts ahead of the film’s release.
After the release of the Variety report, critics took to social media to share their concerns that Zegler could potentially be blacklisted for her pro-Palestine views, after Scream actress Melissa Barrera was allegedly dropped from the horror franchise in 2023 over her pro-Palestine solidarity and repeated condemnation of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
One user wrote on X: “The same Zionist Hollywood that scapegoated, smeared, and attempted to blacklist Melissa Barrera back in 2023 for daring to be anti-genocide is now using the same playbook to smear Rachel Zegler. They failed with Melissa, they’ll fail again.”
Another wrote in a separate post, “Rachel Zegler went up against the entire Zionist Disney franchise, with a whole IDF genocidal soldier as her co-star and promoted her film while also saying Free Palestine- and is now attempting to be blacklisted by Hollywood… I never want to see anyone speak ill of her again.”
While media reports have largely focused on Zegler’s views amid the release of Snow White, the Disney film has faced box office challenges, with the movie receiving a score of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Film critics, however, have largely lauded Zegler’s performance as the title character, while lambasting the film as a whole, with one saying that the production was a “lazily conceived, visually repellent remake.”
