How the Snow White remake became so divisive - and for all the wrong reasons
The Snow White remake has become so controversial it has had to ‘scale back’ its Hollywood premiere and axe its UK one. But it’s making headlines for all the wrong reasons
Being cast in a major Disney remake should be any actress’s Cinderella story. But from the moment Rachel Zegler’s casting in Snow White went public, it became clear it was a poisoned apple.
The 23-year-old American actress was revealed as Disney’s new Snow White four years ago, in 2021, where it was met with immediate backlash. Zegler, who is from Colombian descent, has been decried as the ‘woke’ version of Snow White purely due to her non-Caucasian heritage.
“When the literal line from the movie is ‘skin as white as snow’, and that’s why her name is Snow White, it makes it kind of weird,” observed American conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro in 2023. Numerous petitions were launched to remove Zegler as Snow White and recast her with another actress, with one Change.org petition insisting “Snow White must have skin white as a snow. Period.”
As well as that all sounding awfully Aryan, Zegler has come under fire for her political views, having previously criticised the Trump administration following the president’s re-election in early 2025. She has since apologised for “contributing to negative discourse”.
Rachel Zegler at a European promotional event for Snow White on March 12
Getty Images for Disney
This isn’t the first time Zegler has had to fall on her sword in the service of quelling the swirling storm of hate that has engulfed the film’s release. When questioned about the response from fans over her casting, Zegler said it was due to fan’s “passion” for the original film.
“I interpret people’s sentiments towards this film as passion,” she said in an interview with Vogue Mexico. “What an honour to be a part of something that people feel so passionately about. We’re not always going to agree with everyone who surrounds us and all we can do is our best.”
As the film’s release looms, its controversy is still overwhelming it. Recent reports have shown that studio execs called for a “scaled back” Hollywood premiere, with the red carpet media pit reduced to only photographers and in-house crew. Moreover, there will be no UK premiere for the film, which is highly unusual for a production of this size.
One insider told the Daily Mail this was due to Disney “anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White” prompting them to reduce the media schedule to just a handful of “tightly controlled press events.”
“That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of press questions that Rachel Zegler gets,” the source said.
Rachel Zegler
PA Archive
Maybe Zegler was miscast. It’s not the smartest colourblind casting in the world, and its lack of forethought has lead Zegler like a lamb to the slaughter. Right wing commentators don’t need facts to rely on at the best of times, but this time they have them, and they’re wielding them like a sword.
But that doesn’t mean she should suffer this level of undeniably racist abuse, which is reaching Meghan Markle levels of unchecked hysteria. What about umpteen amount of white women who have played Cleopatra over the last fifty years? Or all the white actors who have played Jesus? Or Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson both playing Asian women within the past ten years? I don’t remember those incidents shutting down any red carpets.
Meanwhile, the real controversy is being handily obfuscated by this manufactured one. Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, is a longstanding advocate for Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in her youth. She has downplayed the impact in Palestine and spoken heavily in support of Israel, even since a UN Special Committee found Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza consistent with genocide.
Gal Gadot (Ian West/PA)
PA Archive
And yet somehow, Gadot is only the second most divisive actress to be starring in Snow White.
Meanwhile, there is further controversy around the role of the seven dwarves, which came under fire following criticism from actor and dwarfism activist Peter Dinklage. In 2022, the actor questioned why Disney was so proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White, while “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.”
He continued: “It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f***ing backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together?”
Both Dinklage and Zegler’s “controversies” have helped to distract from the real world issue affecting the film, with endless splitting hairs over the authenticity of a fairy tale. All it serves to prove is that Disney remakes are redundant, and the $209 million budget would have been better spent elsewhere.
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