What’s All This Snow White Drama I Keep Hearing About?

You may have noticed a lot of headlines about Snow White recently, none of them particularly good. Disney’s most recent stab at remaking an animated classic as a CGI-heavy live-action movie has been mired in controversy for years, and ahead of its Friday release, things have only gotten messier. From racist attacks about Rachel Zegler’s casting to Gal Gadot’s outspoken pro-Israel stance,  the tension is so high that even Disney seems rattled — the studio reportedly scaled back its Los Angeles premiere in an apparent effort to keep a low profile. Here’s a guide to everything that’s going on.

Conservative reactions to Rachel Zegler were unhinged from the jump.

To really get a handle on all of the mess surrounding this movie, you have to go all the way back to 2021, when Zegler was cast as Snow White. Zegler is Latin, and some right-wing freaks were upset that she does not have “skin white as snow.” In a quickly deleted tweet, Zegler wrote, “Yes i am snow white no i am not bleaching my skin for the role.” This will not be the first time Zegler has to delete a punchy kiss-off.

The next year, conservatives found a new reason to get mad at Zegler. During 2022’s D23 Expo, she talked about how the story was being updated for the modern era. “The original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so,” Zegler told Extra. “There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird!”

Naturally, this completely reasonable take did not go over well with the podcasters who think DEI is out to get them. Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh came after Zegler, posting on X, “Disney is trying a really interesting marketing strategy where the star of the new Snow White spends a year before the movie’s release publicly talking about how much she despises Snow White.” That is not what she was doing, but it of course drummed up the desired outrage anyway.

Zegler’s political views caused even more uproar.

On top of being the right’s Enemy No. 1, Zegler does not totally jibe with a corporate behemoth like Disney — particularly its desire to appeal to a broad political spectrum. She found herself in more hot water after the 2024 election, when she concluded a lengthy post about the results with, “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.”

The Mouse was not so happy with this, given the fact that Zegler’s comments prompted widespread vows to boycott Snow White from Trump supporters. Sensing an opportunity, Megyn Kelly added to the pile-on, saying on the podcast Ruthless, “Hello, Disney, you’re going to have to redo your film again, because this woman is a pig … I’m sorry, Disney, she has to go right now.”

A few days later, Zegler apologized for her remarks: “Hi everyone, I would like to sincerely apologize for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the best of me,” she wrote in an Instagram Story that had the vibe of something that went through several rounds of corporate edits. “This week has been emotional for so many of us, but I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own. I am committed to contributing positively toward a better tomorrow.”

Also, there are seven CGI’d dwarfs.

Zegler isn’t the only lightning rod for this movie. There is also the matter of the seven dwarfs, which has brought out a lot of strong opinions. In 2022, Peter Dinklage told Marc Maron that he thought there was “a lot of hypocrisy” in the production. “Literally no offense to anyone, but I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White. But you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the ‘seven dwarfs.’ Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me,” the actor said on WTF. “You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that fucking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together; what the fuck are you doing, man?”

Disney responded to Dinklage’s comments swiftly, saying in a statement, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period.”

What they settled on is that the dwarfs are all animated CGI characters, mostly voiced by people who do not have dwarfism. (Only one of the dwarfs, Grumpy, is voiced by someone with dwarfism.) The choice to go with CGI has angered several actors with dwarfism, who say it took opportunities away from their community. “I think Disney is trying too hard to be politically correct, but in doing so it’s damaging our careers and opportunities,” actor Choon Tan told the Daily Mail.

Zegler and Gadot have wildly different stances on Israel-Palestine.

As if there wasn’t enough overt controversy, simmering under the surface of this whole thing is the fact that the film’s stars support opposing sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Zegler has been a vocal supporter of the “Free Palestine” movement for years, while Gadot, who was Miss Israel 2004, has fiercely defended Israel on social media and in interviews.

Last week, two different sources told People that this situation has not exactly made for a friendly work environment. One source told the tabloid they have “nothing in common” and their “political views differ, adding to the tension.” Another source explained that the two have “a huge age gap and very different political views,” and that while Gadot is “fine” with Zegler, “they are not friends.”

During the movie’s press run, Zegler has remained mostly quiet about her politics. Gadot, on the other hand, received the International Leadership Award from the Anti-Defamation League earlier this month. In her speech, she decried “the explosion of Jew hatred around the world.” During a recent Variety interview about her new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Gadot said that she doesn’t “talk politics” since the October 7 attacks, but added that “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.” She did not mention the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli military strikes since October 7.

Disney’s attempts to keep the chaos at bay have only made more noise.

A few days before Snow White’s Los Angeles premiere, Variety reported that the event was going to be “scaled back” due to the controversy surrounding it. On top of the issues with the dwarfism community, the attacks on Zegler, and her own comments about politics, the publication pointed to Gadot’s staunchly pro-Israel stance as a reason for a pared-down event, suggesting the studio might be worried about protests.

When asked about the smaller premiere, actor Martin Klebba, who voices Grumpy, didn’t hold back. “It really isn’t going to be a red carpet,” Klebba told The Hollywood Reporter. “But it’s basically going to be a pre-party, watch the movie, and that’s it. There’s not going to be this whole hoopla of ‘Disney’s first fucking movie they ever made.’ Because of all this controversy, they’re afraid of the blowback from different people in society.” He suggested that the downsizing was due to “the controversy with Rachel,” but clarified that he didn’t have any direct knowledge about the decision.

Zegler and Gadot — who have remained separate for most of the film’s press tour, save for presenting together at the Oscars — both attended the pared-down premiere and gamely posed for pictures together alongside producer Marc Platt (who, like Gadot, is an ardent supporter of Israel).

Perhaps due to the lack of to-do, Disney had to find out some way to make the event feel special. It seems they settled on having a couple of bunnies hop on the carpet. At least that’s nice?