Actress Rachel Zegler declared her support for a “Free Palestine” this week while promoting her new film, the live-action remake of the 1937 Disney classic “Snow White” that also stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot in the role of the Evil Queen.
Despite the fact that Zegler’s leading co-star in the film is a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and an avid supporter of her home country, the Golden Globe-winning actress — who will also star in a new Broadway production of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” — did not hesitate to publicly share her support for the Palestinian cause.
Three days after the trailer for the new “Snow White” film was released, and has since racked up over 6 million views on YouTube, Zegler tweeted on Monday, “i love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind. i am in the thick of rehearsals for romeo + juliet so i’m gonna get outta here. bye for now [sic].”
In a separate post, she added: “and always remember, free palestine [sic].”
Photo: Screenshot
Zegler’s pro-Palestinian tweet has garnered 5.5 million views and almost 50,000 shares since being posted. The post on X has also attracted hundreds of comments from pro-Israel supporters, who criticized the tweet as well as Zegler’s “backstabbing” and lack of support for her Israeli co-star. Some social media users asked Zegler if she had the audacity to say “Free Palestine” to Gadot’s face while others chastised the Walt Disney Company for even hiring Zegler to play the title character in the upcoming “Snow White” film.
“Free Disney of Rachel Zegler,” said one social media user. Another wrote to Zegler, “If you mean free from Hamas, I agree.”
“Good to know you share the same ideology as the man who tried to murder a Jew in NY. He screamed free palestine when he stabbed a Jew,” an X user wrote in response to Zegler’s tweet. Another added, “Hey, ‘Snow White’, it must be tough to be outshined by the beauty of Wonder Woman, while being so much uglier inside.” One X user sarcastically said, “Wow you’re such a ‘team player’. Way to support your cast mate.”
A user on X that drew attention to Disney tweeted: “Disney have [sic] an interesting marketing strategy for Snow White. It co-stars Israeli Gal Gadot, making sure Israel-haters will boycott it, and Israel-hater Rachel Zegler, making sure pro-Israelis will be loathe to watch it. Is there some way to alienate neutral viewers too?”
Gadot has not directly responded to Zegler’s tweet, but on Tuesday, she shared on her Instagram Story a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Gadot added, “Only love can truly save the world.”
