Snow White: Live action remake starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot is plagued by feuds and scandal - controversies explained

Starring Rachel Zegler in the main role opposite Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot as the Evil Witch, the new and updated 2025 version of Snow Whit is hitting screens this week. The Disney princess is the oldest on the company’s roster and if a firm favourite of fans across the globe.

A remake of this 1937 classic tale should be a slam dunk for the production company. But the film has found itself plagued by controversies in the run up to release that threatens to risk making the project a huge flop for Disney.

On a budget of $250-270 million, new forecasts show that the film may only pull in $50m domestically on opening weekend. This has been coupled with some mixed critical reviews - Snow White currently sits at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.

With mentions of boycotts coming from left, right and centre, Disney may already be finding that Snow White is a lost cause before it even hits theatres. Here are some of the controversies surrounding the film that may just see it tank at the box office.

Rachel Zelger’s casting as Snow White

Following the announcement that West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler would be stepping into the iconic role of Snow White, right-wing commentators and news sites quickly took issue with her involvement.

Some argued that only a white actor should be cast as Snow White, decrying the casting of the Latina actress as “woke”. They pointed toward the original description of the Disney princess, which described her as having skin "as white as snow" as justification for their anger over the decision to cast Zegler.

In an October 2024 interview with Variety, Zegler said that in the new version of the film, the eponymous princess would be given the name ‘Snow White’ in reference to a snowstorm that her and her parents survive as opposed to the colour of her skin.

Controversy over the Seven Dwarves

Disney found themselves in hot water with the live action Snow White after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage criticised the story over its characterisation of the seven dwarves in the story. The characters have been a main part of the Snow White story ever since the original film was released in 1937, with Dinklage, who has dwarfism himself, labelling the story as “f***ing backwards”.

He told Marc Maron’s WTF podcast: “You’re progressive in one way [casting Zegler] but then you’re still making that f***ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f*** are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soap box? I guess I’m not loud enough. I don’t know which studio that is but they were so proud of it. All love and respect to the actress and all the people who thought they were doing the right thing. But I’m just like, what are you doing?”

Following the actor’s comments, Disney executives said that they were working to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”, with conversations ongoing “with members of the dwarfism community” at that point on how to approach the film.

It was revealed in 2023 that Disney had cast one actor with dwarfism and six others who do not have dwarfism and planned to introduce the dwarves in the film as CGI ‘dwarves’ from German folklore, which are not human and instead supernatural beings. The move led to outrage from the dwarfism community who blasted the company for not hiring dwarf actors to portray the traditional roles and accused Disney of being overly politically correct.

Rachel Zegler’s Prince Charming comments

Zegler caused further ruffled feathers when she criticised the 1937 animated original film. Speaking at the Disney D23 Expo event in 2022, the actress said: “The original cartoon came out in 1937 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. We have a different approach to what I'm sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. [...] But it's really not about her love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.”

She also took aim at the song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ in the same vein of criticism.

The film was once again derided for being too “woke” after Zegler’s comments. David Hand, son of the 1937 film’s director, labelled the live-action remake as “insulting” and said that Walt Disney and his father would be “turning in their graves”.

Zegler responded to the uproar calling the reaction “upsetting”, and said that she was “sad it was taken in such a way”.

Polarising views on Israel and Palestine

One of the biggest controversies facing the new Snow White film has been the reported feud between its two main stars - Rachel Zegler and Israeli actress Gal Gadot. The pair are said to have kept their distance from each other over their opposing views on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Zegler has been outspoken in her support for Palestine while Gadot, who formerly served in the Israeli Defence Force, had been open in her support for Israel. The issue became so big for Disney that the traditional large-scale premiere was cancelled, in favour of a stripped-back screening with no red-carpet press.

Speaking to Allure, Zegler hinted towards the rumoured feud between the pair, commenting: “All I’m ever really looking for in this business is a sister and they’re not always easy to find.”

The opposing views have seen those in support of Palestine calling for a boycott of the film due to Gadot’s involvement, and vice versa with Israel supporters boycotting due to Zegler’s role.

Right-wing commentators also called for a boycott of the film after Zegler took to social media and posted “F*** Donald Trump” after his 2024 US presidential election win and criticised voters who had re-elected him. She later apologised for her comments, saying: “I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own.”