Disney, Afraid of What Rachel Zegler Might Say Next, Cancels ‘Snow White’ Premiere

After years of controversies, reshoots, and hundreds of millions spent, Disney’s live-action Snow White (2025) premiere is just two weeks away. One would imagine that after everything Disney went through to get this film to the big screen, the company would throw a massive party to celebrate; instead, Disney keeping things small and keeping the film’s star, Rachel Zegler, out of the spotlight.

The United Kingdom’s Daily Mail reports that the higher-ups at Disney are not holding a star-studded premiere in London. Instead, they have opted for small “tightly controlled” press events in the UK for the film’s debut.

The main reason Disney refuses to host a large gala for the premiere is fear. Disney fears “anti-woke” backlash and fears putting too many microphones in front of Zegler.

An inside source told the Daily Mail: 

Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of tightly controlled press events. That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of press questions that Rachel Zegler gets.

When it was announced that Zegler, who is half Colombian, would take on the role of Snow White, there was an immediate backlash. Some labeled Disney “woke” for changing the main character to be more inclusive. The “woke” label stayed with Disney after it was revealed that Disney had replaced the seven dwarfs with seven “magical creatures.”

Disney delayed the release of Snow White from 2024 to 2025 to reshoot scenes and bring back the dwarfs. As a result, the film’s spending ballooned to over $270 million, not including publicity spending.

After getting the role, Zegler did not help to tamp down the “woke” controversies. She criticized the original film, calling it “weird” and Prince Charming a “stalker.”

More recently, she said that she hopes Donald Trump and his supporters “never know peace,” which they took as a threat. Zegler has since apologized for those remarks.

Although there will not be a premiere in the UK, there will be one in America, with Zegler and co-star Gal Gadot expected to attend despite rumors of a feud between the two actresses.

Snow White is in theaters on March 21.