Rachel Zegler Fans Furiously Defend 'Snow White' Actress After She's Blamed for Uptick In Death Threats Toward Co-Star Gal Gadot Following 'Controversial' X Post — As Disney Film Continues to Drown in Backlash
Rachel Zegler's X post may have set off a firestorm against Gal Gadot.
March 25 2025, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Rachel Zegler cannot avoid controversy as she's now being blamed for an increase in death threats toward Snow White co-star Gal Gadot following an X post focused on Palestine.
The 23-year-old and Gadot are said to be involved in a brutal feud, even impacting the success of the Disney live-action film, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Zegler's 'free Palestine' post is said to have set off death threats toward Gadot.
The chaos kicked off when Zegler introduced the movie's first trailer while attending Disney's D23 fan event in August 2024. Afterwards, she took to X to thank her supporters, and later added in the same thread: "and always remember, free Palestine.”
The comment set off plenty of drama as Gadot received a huge amount of death threats aimed at her, according to Variety. The 39-year-old – who served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years – came under so much hate Disney is said to have paid for additional security for the Hollywood star.
Following Zegler's post, Gadot reposted an X user's post which read: "Trying to campaign on the head of your co-star, who actually lives through war, so you'll look cooler with the kids, is pathetic," before she removed it.
The film's producer Marc Platt is also said to have spoken to Zegler, reminding her to "post heedfully."
Gadot served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years.
Despite the friendly warning, Zegler still put her politics on display just two months later following Donald Trump's victory.
"May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace. Another four years of hatred, leaning us towards a world I do not want to live in," she declared at the time.
The West Side Story actress then described Trump supporters as "foolish subscription to a false sense of security, of masculinity, of intelligence, of patriotism, and of humanity."
Zegler would later apologize following backlash, claiming "my emotions get the best of me."
Variety's reporting, however, led fans of Zegler to X to defend the movie star as one person wrote: "'Free Palestine' is not a political statement. It is an expression of humanity, solidarity and kindness."
Another chimed in: "Still have zero interest in ever seeing this movie. That said, have a whole lot of respect for that young lady sticking up to Disney."
"This happened last year and she’s still a part of the film. I'm glad she stood her ground," one user reacted.
The co-stars are said to be involved in a feud.
Snow White opened with just under $45million in the U.S. during its debut weekend – despite the massive $270million budget – less that the live-action version of Dumbo.
The production was plagued with issues, too, including an apparent ongoing rift between Zegler, who played the titular character, and Gadot, who played the Evil Queen.
At one point, the film seemed to lack any coverage as the European premiere was held in a remote castle in northern Spain. While Zegler attended, her appearance was choreographed, reportedly for fears the well-known vocal actress would make comments not related to Snow White.
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Zegler called out the film's main character for being 'extremely dated.'
"They've been going through the motions on Snow White, all but saying, 'We need to get this thing over with," a source previously said.
Zegler was also open with her displeasure of her character, calling it "extremely dated when it comes to ideas of women."
She added: "People are making jokes about ours being the PC Snow White, where it's like, yeah, it is – because it needed that," and mocked the film's prince as a '"stalker."
