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Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicIn the past, Disney has been known to remove actors from their franchises if bad publicity was at hand; now, reports are claiming that they have done this with their upcoming Snow White live-action film following the large amounts of scandal and drama that the film is undergoing before a trailer has even been released.
If you have been following the live-action Snow White drama as of late, you know that many Disney fans are not too happy with the lead actor Rachel Zegler who has shown a lot of hatred towards the original storyline of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film that kicked off Walt Disney’s entry into the world of feature films in 1937 has remained beloved for years, so when Disney announced that they would be making a live-action of the first ever Disney princess, many were excited.
Disney cast Latina actress Rachel Zegler in the role, and although her ethnicity did cause a little backlash considering Snow White’s skin is meant to be “as white as Snow”, many were happy with the casting choice as Zegler had recently shared her singing chops as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
Since then, things have taken a dark turn.
We have, as of late, seen Disney look to be more inclusive, both on screen and within their theme parks. Disney launched the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, stating that “We haven’t always got it right.” This came after the Cast Member dress code changed when it came to the “Disney Look,” allowing Cast Members to express themselves more while at work. On top of that, we have already heard of the progress coming along on the new Princess and the Frog attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, that is replacing Splash Mountain’s racist undertone scenes due to the Song of the South IP, as well as changing the storyline on both Walt Disney World Resort’s and Disneyland Resort’s Jungle Cruise attraction to ensure cultural appropriation disappears.
Disney also has really shaken things up by casting actors of any race into live-action characters that were originally animated as Caucasian. For years, Disney has stuck to the animated look of these characters, bringing them to life on attractions and within the parks and really hammering a certian look into the minds of guests and fans. So, when they announced an iconic character like Ariel from The Little Mermaid would be played by Grown-ish star Halle Bailey, the internet blew up in uproar.
It was certainly not against Halle’s talent and ability to play the role, as she sings spectacularly; the main issue that some had issues with was that Halle is Black and Ariel was drawn as white.
While many fans were highly supportive, others immediately took to Twitter and other social media platforms to express their frustrations about the casting of the Disney princess character. The hashtag #NotMyAriel immediately began to trend.
Most recently, the upcoming Snow White live-action film starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot has hit some heat. There are two main instances that caused fans to be outraged with the upcoming film. Firstly, there will be no dwarfs in the film, but seven magical creatures, which deviates from the iconic story that Walt Disney himself created on screen. The second comes from an interview where Zegler and Gadot say that Snow White will not have a prince charming, and there is no one who needs to save her.
At this point, fans accused Disney of creating a totally different film, and creating a pseudo-feminist film that makes Snow White’s ideals and behavior be seen as wrong, creating a corrupt narrative for females who may dream of finding their “prince charming”, or behaving as more of a softer character, than someone who is constantly trying to be the leader, as Zegler said Snow White will now be. With this, fans have been outraged at Disney pushing their “woke” agenda.
This amount of backlash has even led to rumors of the movie’s cancelation. Due to the response of the film being overwhelmingly negative, releasing it in theaters would likely just continue to have the backlash spread as there would be more to discuss. Pulling it would leave the company with a huge financial loss, but it may protect their reputation. That being said, those rumors are currently just that, rumors.
Now, a new rumor has been revealed, which notes that Zegler has been fired by the Disney company and ousted from her role as Snow White. This would follow recent reports that claim Zegler is no longer set to star in Paddington 3, also. This series of films starring the loveable bear has grown into one of the most successful family-friendly franchises.
Zegler has reportedly been cut from the film and will be recast as a result of the ongoing Hollywood strikes. These strikes started months ago and have affected countless projects, both in the television world as well as film production.
Now, TikTok user Wood & Rustle is claiming Disney fired their princess star. The creator states, “she has recently been fired from Disney’s remake of Snow White that she was starring in.”
@user1415853005730 Disney takes first step in making Hollywood great again! Fires actress for lack of professionalism. #fired #disneycomeback #rachelzegler #mostunlikeableactress #backlash @Disney @Walt Disney Animation Studios @Disney+ #lackofprofessionalism #privledge #wokenessnonesense
The TikTok goes on to note that Zegler was problematic in West Side Story and now, Snow White. The creator states that Disney fired Zegler for her “vile” personality during interviews to a loss of millions of dollars.
Although tons of comments have flooded the viral video, a majority of them in celebration of the news, there is no source stated for this information in the video, so it is still a reported statement and not fully confirmed.
Unlike Halle, Zegler’s skin color played less of a role in her public scrutiny. Although some did mention that Snow White’s skin is meant to be white as snow, and Zegler’s was not, it was her reported “woke” behavior, and hatred of the animated film that she would be bringing to life that truly made headlines.
Related: ‘Snow White’ Actress Begs For Kindness Following Extreme Hatred Over Character Change
Disney has wrapped filming on Snow White, so it would be very shocking to see them start from scratch and replace Zegler, as she is likely in nearly every shot. That being said, we have seen Disney boot iconic actors such as Johnny Depp, who starred and was the reason for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s success, for false allegations.
Next, Zelger will star in this year’s expansion of the Hunger Games franchise with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Do you think that Disney needs to fire Rachel Zegler from Snow White?