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Inside Disney's Major Crisis Over 'Woke Snow White' Remake – Including Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot's 'Out of Control' Political Views and Premiere In Chaos

photo of Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot
Source: Disney

'Snow White and the Evil Queen face off on screen and off.

March 13 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET

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Disney executives are in crisis control over their "woke" remake of classic animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The film, which finally hits theaters next week, has already scaled back its big premiere, and now RadarOnline.com can report the stars are turning on each other.

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rachel zegler
Source: Disney

Zegler's casting as Snow White has been criticized.

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Snow White and her enemy the Evil Queen are battling off-screen as well, as Rachel Zegler, who plays the titular character, is an outspoken supporter of the "Free Palestine" movement.

The queen, meanwhile, is played by Israeli-born actress Gal Gadot, who is said to be furious with her co-star for publicly supporting Gaza.

Gadot, 39, recently appeared at the Anti-Defamation League's "Never Is Now" rally, where she said: "Never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States, and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying and cheering on a massacre of Jews.

"This is a time when many of us in the Jewish community have had to find our voice and confront the hatred against us, even if it’s extremely uncomfortable… That’s been the case for all of us in every walk of life, in every profession, including my own."

The stars have ended up keeping their distance from each other, and despite the duo presenting at the Oscars, are not expected to appear together at the film's big Los Angeles premiere on Saturday.

The premiere itself has already been scaled down, with reports stars will not be made available for red carpet interviews.

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Source: x.com/rachelzegler
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From the start, Snow White faced criticism from fans for casting Zegler – a Latina actress who rose to fame in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake – to play a character described as having "skin as white as snow."

The casting was slammed as being "woke" and catering to Disney's "DEI" policies.

Meanwhile, Snow White's beloved ballad Someday My Prince Will Come has been jettisoned from the film, and the story changed to make the heroine less dependent on a man saving her.

Zegler, 23, was proud to tell fans her Snow White is not some damsel in distress: "She’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be."

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snow white dwarfs
Source: Disney

Fans were not happy about the CGI dwarfs.

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Snow White's famous diminutive friends were also bashed for being added by CGI, as actors with various forms of dwarfism, including Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, have been especially vocal about their objections.

Actor Choon Tan, who has dwarfism, told Femail the movie's reliance on CGI for the seven dwarves has left him "offended and disappointed at Disney’s decision."

He added: "There are plenty of actors who are capable and would have loved to have played these roles and it’s just taken away one of the few opportunities that we have.

"They wouldn’t use CGI for a tall character, so why do they have to use it for dwarfs? I personally feel discriminated against as everyone should be given an equal opportunity."

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The reimagining of the movie has hit those involved with the original especially hard. David Hale Hand, whose late father, Disney animator David Hand, was the supervising director for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, called the remake "ridiculous."

He told Page Six: "They’ve taken it and moved into the politics of what is woke.

"They’re taking a beautiful and beautifully drawn story and destroying what was Snow White.

"Why can’t they just leave it alone instead of coming up with a different story – make it a totally different character?"

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