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Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicIt looks like two of Disney’s most controversial female actors have now been pinned against each other, both with very different political beliefs.
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. 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.
Disney’s “Woke” Controversy
Over the past few years, we have seen Disney attempt to be much more diverse and inclusive in all aspects of the company, including casting choices. This, for some, has recently gone too far — and now Disney is seemingly looking to make it right.
Previously, 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.
Following this, we saw Disney begin to change their casting, placing different ethnicities into characters that were previously created as Caucasian. The first casting choice to make headlines was when Disney announced they had finally found who would play the iconic mermaid, Ariel, for the upcoming live-action remake The Little Mermaid. The Disney Princess and mermaid, Ariel, would be played by actress Halle Bailey, known for her work in ABC’s Grown-ish and as one half of the famous R&B singing duo Chloe and Halle.
But it wasn’t long before the Internet spoke about the decision on Bailey’s casting. 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.
‘Snow White’ Canceled?
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 outrage 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.
It has become popular for many social media creators to take to TikTok and make videos showing off something Zegler said that is negative either about the character of Snow White, or the plot of the animated film, and dissect why she is wrong, and point to the fact that Disney cast an actor in a role she seemingly hates, in a story she also seemingly hates.
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.
Gina Carano’s Stint with Disney
Now, more rumors are starting to surface which claim that Zegler got Gina Carno fired from the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian.
The Disney+ Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni hit series The Mandalorian had been heavily discussed all over social media in 2021, with the majority of controversy stemming from actress Gina Carano. Carano — who plays ex-mercenary and the current Nevarro New Republic Marshal Cara Dune — has been at the center of both fan outrage and love for the bulk of Season 2.
The hashtag #FireGinaCarano has trended on Twitter many times. Most recently, the hashtag reappeared after Lucasfilm issued a COVID-19 memorial Tweet, and also resurfaced after the Capitol Building insurrection occurred and Carano liked the Tweets of apparent riot supporters. Initially, #FireGinaCarno was created due to what many have deemed controversial and outspoken political and social beliefs.
The women’s MMA fighter-turned-actress lost her job after a series of controversial Tweets regarding Carano’s political and social beliefs, the Walt Disney Company fired the actress from the Star Wars series, and Lucasfilm called the posts “abhorrent.” Arguably her most shocking entry appeared to compare modern-day political differences in America to being a Jewish person in the Holocaust. “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children,” she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram story.
Carno’s Fall from Disney
Now, it seems there was a link between Carano and Zegler.
In September 2020, Carano was accused of targeting the trans community after facing calls to add her pronouns to her Twitter/X account. In response, she changed her bio to “boop/bop/beep” as noted by Dexerto.
She reportedly later explained in a tweet: “They’re mad cuz I won’t put pronouns in my bio to show my support for trans lives. After months of harassing me in every way. I decided to put three VERY controversial words in my bio.. beep/bop/boop. I’m not against trans lives at all. They need to find less abusive representation.”
Just a couple of hours later, the Snow White actress took to Twitter/X to write: “Do not make fun of pronouns.” Zegler contined by noting “They are not a joke! Pronouns are validating! Pronouns are cool! Put your pronouns in your bio! I wear my pronouns on a button sometimes! It’s a good thing! Bye!”
She ended the series of Tweets with, “It’s a fun time to remind you all to love Pedro Pascal.”
The publication noted, “Numerous people have now weighed in on the situation, accusing Zegler of celebrating or helping to get Carano fired by Lucasfilm. That includes YouTuber ThatUmbrellaGuy, who shared a video titled ‘Rachel Zegler cancelled Johnny Depp and Gina Carano, now Disney’s Snow White is cancelled.’
Dataracer (@Dataracer117) spoke out on the situation stating, “3 years ago Rachel Zegler sent her fans to bully Gina Carano over the “boop/bop/beep” pronouns thing. Gina just called Rachel out as a lying hypocrite after she tweeted: “I hope the world becomes kinder.” Rachel Zegler is finally reaping what she sowed.”
3 years ago Rachel Zegler sent her fans to bully Gina Carano over the "boop/bop/beep" pronouns thing.
Gina just called Rachel out as a lying hypocrite after she tweeted: "I hope the world becomes kinder."
Rachel Zegler is finally reaping what she sowed. pic.twitter.com/7Fb0d5loBT
— Dataracer (@Dataracer117) August 17, 2023
Some believe Rachel then had a hand in Carano losing her job in The Mandalorian, but of course, it is much more about her actions and outspoken beliefs which offended many and caused her to be let go from the series.
After it was revealed that Gina Carano was no longer employed by Lucasfilm, Mandalorian fans spoke out on both sides. The hashtag #FireGinaCarano trended throughout Season 2 of The Mandalorian and early in 2021, and many took to social media to express their agreement with Disney’s decision this week. On the other side, the actress’s supporters continue to speak up regarding Disney’s decision to drop her. A “Bring Back Gina Carano” petition began acquiring thousands of signatures just hours after it was created, and #WeLoveCaraDune, and #IStandWithGinaCarano hashtags continue to trend.
Fans even took things one step further, causing #CancelDisneyPlus to trend on Twitter. Considering Gina has held the title of one of the most popular entertainers of 2020 according to IMDb, it is not surprising that she has an army of fans who are not happy to see her leave The Mandalorian based on the reasons that the Lucasfilm representative described.
In the end, Grogu’s (AKA Baby Yoda) goodbye to Cara Dune was final in The Mandalorian Seaosn 2 (“Chapter 16: The Rescue”).
What’s Gina Up to Now?
Since her controversial comments, Gina Carano has primarily found work acting for films produced by far-right news outlets like the Daily Wire and Breitbart. These films included Terror on the Prarie, a film about a frontierswoman protecting her home from outlaws, and My Son Hunter, a film about Hunter Biden. As of now, Carano has no upcoming projects lined up.
She also spoke out on being canned in an Instagram post, “If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. -Banksy. I was so tired and heartbroken from the past few years.. I am intensely sensitive and so all of what has happened in the world and personally has been damaging on every level for me. I know a lot of you feel me on that. I’ve seen how hard it’s been on so many of you and how many of you don’t talk about it but I can see the familiar heart break in you.”
The post continues, “I knew it was going to be really hard to recover from what I went through personally so I pulled back, became a bit of a recluse and really paid attention to healing. Now I can say I am finally feeling the positive effects of going through that process. I feel grounded and genuinely happier than I have ever been with a much deeper desire in my heart to push on. I have a peace I have never experienced before. ✝️
I share this because I feel a lot of people can relate and I want to remind you all out there that sometimes you just need to allow yourself to heal before moving to that next step and getting back to fulfilling your dreams.. don’t lose hope, maybe you just needed to rest, heal and let that desire grow and become more grounded.🤍”
As for The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal returned in the lead role along with Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze. You can stream all of the third season, along with the other two seasons, of The Mandalorian now on Disney+.
Do you think Rachel Zegler played a part in Gina Carano losing her job?