Woke Snow White star Rachel Zegler blamed for spike in DEATH THREATS towards co-star Gal Gadot
Snow White star Rachel Zegler reportedly forced Disney to fork out for private security for her co-star Gal Gadot over a rise in death threats after her pro-Palestinian remarks.
Snow White star Rachel Zegler reportedly forced Disney to fork out for private security for her co-star Gal Gadot over a rise in death threats after her pro-Palestinian remarks.
The 23-year-old had thanked her fans in a X post in which she teased the embattled fairytale flick in August of last year.
Signing off, the scandal-hit-star gave a quick afterthought, writing: and always remember, free Palestine.
The comment caused a spike in the amount of death threats directed at her Israeli co-star Gadot, 40, who plays the Evil Queen in the remake, according to Variety.
Gadot came under so much hate that Disney top brass decided to pay for additional security for the mom-of-four.
Unsurprisingly, the post caused a rift between the two and saw producer Marc Platt fly from Los Angeles to New York for crisis talks with the young actress.
In a report from The New York Times last week, the outlet reported that Platt had to remind her how much was at stake with the movie and her career before asking her to post heedfully.
Platt headed home to LA confident hed gotten through to Zegler - only for the progressive starlet to unleash another stream of social media invective after Donald Trump won his second presidential election in November.
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 caused a spike in the amount of death threats directed at her Israeli co-star Gadot, seen here
Zegler is seen here portraying the titular character alongside the seven dwarves in a handout
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.
Variety report that Zegler has been working with a social media manager in the run up to the films opening weekend on Friday past.
For her part, Gadot kept her comments on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East to herself, offering only support for civilian hostages taken after October 7.
As far as figures go, the film opened at the box office with $87 million worldwide, with top brass at Disney now evaluating what went wrong.
Originally given the green light with a budget of $210 million, execs at Disney were left underwhelmed by the first cut and ordered reshoots.
In doing so, the budget soared to $270 million which didnt even include their marketing campaign.
The figures place the film below Disneys Little Mermaid remake, which premiered in 2023 and made $95 million during opening.
Disneys 2019 Dumbo remake made $2.6 million in previews and profited a total of $45 million on opening weekend.
However, Dumbo only required $170 million to make, while Snow White cost over $250 million, excluding marketing costs.
This image released by Disney shows promotional art for the film Snow White
Zegler previously revealed she refused to sing the beloved song Some Day My Prince Will Come from the 1937 classic, calling it weird
Despite the underperforming figures, Snow White did rank higher than Disneys Cinderella remake, which only grossed $2.3 million in previews.
The film has also failed to impress critics, clocking in at only 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Times reported that confidence had started to brew amongst the powers that be that the movie was starting to come together after the reshoots and extra visual effects.
Part of those visual effects had been to work on Zeglers wig she wore in the movie, after it was likened to Shrek villain Lord Farquaad and rightfully ridiculed.
A song titled Hidden in My Heart, which was to be sung by one of the dwarfs, was also cut and a new scene was added involving the Evil Queen and the magic mirror.
Satisfied with their post production wizardry, Disney execs decided to flock to Disney World in Florida for a retreat in October of last year.
It wasnt meant to be however, with Hurricane Milton causing the summit to be called off at the last minute.
Instead, Disney live action chief David Greenbaum gathered a lucky dozen of studio heads into a screening room on their lot in Los Angeles.
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, especially the sound and color, until February.
Gal Gadot is seen here in a scene of the new film which hit screen globally over the weekend
Zegler has repeatedly been a thorn in the side of this movie doing well, having continuously sparked controversy.
She has panned the original film for what she sees as a sexist traditional romance plot.
On Monday she seemed to have finally had a change of heart, as she took to Instagram this week 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.
Zegler previously revealed she refused to sing the beloved song Some Day My Prince Will Come from the 1937 classic, stating it was weird that the movie focused on Snow Whites love story with a guy who literally stalks her.
She has also criticized David Hands 1937 original animated film as extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and admitted she has only seen it once.
The star also faced backlash when she was first cast as Snow White as a Latina actress.
In response to the negative reception, Rachel penned in a since-deleted post: yes i am snow white no I am not bleaching my skin for the role (sic).
With the film now out there it currently has a dismal 46 percent critic approval rating out of 130 reviews.
Daily Mails 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.