WOKE DISNEY BACKLASH: Stars Trash The Classic To Sell The Reboot
Disney’s planned live-action remake of Snow White is officially in a catastrophic PR tailspin, and the fire is being fueled entirely by its own stars. Lead actress Rachel Zegler and co-star Gal Gadot have publicly savaged the animated classic, igniting a massive fan revolt that is now threatening to sink the film before it even hits theaters.
The controversy exploded after a series of jaw-dropping interviews where Zegler, , the new Snow White, made it clear she despises the source material. Zegler shamelessly admitted to being scared of the original cartoon as a child and only watching it once. This is the actress meant to be selling the nostalgia, and she’s admitting she hates the product!
The aggression continued as Zegler took direct aim at the beloved love story. She told ExtraTV: “The original cartoon came out in , and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time.” She even hinted that the male lead, Andrew Burnap, who plays the Prince, could be edited out entirely: “All of Andrew’s scenes could get cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby.”
GAL GADOT JUMPS IN: Confirming The ‘No Prince’ Policy
If Zegler’s comments weren’t enough to sink the ship, co-star Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen, jumped right into the fray to confirm the film’s controversial “girl boss” overhaul. Gadot openly boasted about the script’s political leanings, stating: “We absolutely wrote a Snow White that… she’s not going to be saved by the prince.”
Zegler doubled down on the sentiment, revealing the new focus: “And she’s not going to be dreaming about true love; she’s going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.” The message is clear: the new movie exists solely to be a political statement, not a faithful adaptation.
This blatant derision of the source material—mocking the Prince as a “stalker” and dismissing “true love” as an unworthy dream—is exactly what has enraged the nostalgic fan base who made the original a classic. It is a monumental PR blunder that has created a firestorm of negative publicity.
THE FAN REVOLT: ‘Shaming Anyone Who Liked It As Creepy’
The fan reaction has been swift, brutal, and organized. Social media is ablaze with criticism, with fans pointing out the massive gulf between Disney’s approach here and the phenomenal success of films like Barbie, which embraced nostalgia even while adapting for modern times.
Barbie’s marketing embraced the nostalgia around the original, even while acknowledging times have changed. It became a hit. Snow White is doing the opposite — not only deriding the original but shaming anyone who liked it as creepy and weird. This will end badly for the film.
Another viral take called out the simplistic feminism being peddled by the stars:
The Snow White discourse is getting on my nerves. The point of feminism isn’t to be some kick-a girl boss /. the point of feminism is autonomy and CHOICE. If a woman CHOOSES to cook/clean/be swept off her feet by a prince, THEN SHE HAS THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THAT.
The backlash is coalescing around the idea that the stars are actively insulting the audience they need to pay for tickets. Disney spent a fortune making this movie, and now its own lead actresses are campaigning against its central themes!
Zegler’s Defensive Tweet: ‘I Hope The World Becomes Kinder’
The intensity of the negative reaction appears to have forced Zegler into a defensive public posture. While she has yet to formally respond to the criticism, she took to Twitter to post a vague, emotionally charged plea for kindness:
“I hope the world becomes kinder,” she tweeted, adding: “I love you very much. forever and ever. Remember to be kind. Treat each other with patience and empathy. Remember that you are loved unconditionally, no matter your mistakes, no matter your misunderstandings. You deserve it. You deserve love. You deserve to live without fear.”
It reads less like a call for empathy and more like a star desperately trying to deflect legitimate criticism of her public comments. Fans are asking: Did she ever consider the impact of mocking a beloved, classic film on the millions of adults who grew up loving it?
️ The Defense Force: ‘Just Like Brie Larson’
While the backlash is loud, Zegler is finding strong support from her corner of Hollywood and loyal fans, who are framing the controversy as another example of misogynistic hate targeting a progressive actress—comparing her ordeal to the vicious online attacks suffered by Captain Marvel star Brie Larson.
One supporter argued: “Miss Rachel Zegler should not be in such hot water over saying snow white wasn’t ahead of its time (true), it wasn’t a childhood favorite of hers (honest), and the remake is going to attempt more feminism (something I think ALL of the other live-action princesses have said??)”
Another user was even more aggressive: “Y’all swore up and down that we would never let the hate that Brie Larson got happen to another actress and here we are again with you LOSERS bashing Rachel Zegler for asking for fair pay and wanting to play Snow White as a more proactive heroine…. I’m done.” The rhetoric is becoming viciously polarized.
The Cliffhanger: Can Disney Re-Write This Disaster?
The Snow White remake is positioned to be a massive box office behemoth, but the star’s comments have fundamentally poisoned the well. The film now faces an uphill battle to win back the family audience and nostalgic fans who feel insulted and shamed by the lead actresses.
Zegler, who is set to star in the highly anticipated Hunger Games prequel, is clearly a massive talent, but her off-the-cuff, critical comments about the Disney IP she is starring in have created an internal crisis. Can Disney’s PR machine somehow spin this anti-nostalgia narrative back into a profitable marketing campaign?
The choice to publicly trash the original movie as “weird” and “creepy” is a gamble of catastrophic proportions. The world is watching to see if Disney’s Snow White reboot becomes a legendary box office disaster, all thanks to its own stars.
