Rachel Zegler’s Snow White Saga: A Meltdown, a Flop, and Disney’s Desperate Pivot

Disney’s live-action Snow White was meant to be a triumphant reimagining of a timeless classic, but it’s become a cautionary tale of Hollywood missteps. With the film bombing spectacularly at the box office—most recently during a disastrous Mother’s Day re-release—lead actress Rachel Zegler is at the center of a firestorm. Her fiery outbursts, accusations of sexism, and clashes with Disney have turned the project into a lightning rod for controversy. As the studio braces for the film’s Disney+ release, the fallout raises bigger questions about what audiences want and whether Hollywood is listening.

A Box Office Bloodbath

The numbers don’t lie. Snow White, starring Zegler as the iconic princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, has grossed a paltry $202.8 million worldwide against a reported $270 million production budget, not counting marketing costs. The Mother’s Day re-release, intended to capitalize on family audiences, was an embarrassment, earning just $335,000 across 1,330 theaters—an average of 17 tickets sold per theater, according to Cosmic Book News. Posts on X captured the sentiment bluntly: empty theaters and a 1.7/10 IMDb score paint a grim picture. Disney’s hopes of a recovery have evaporated, with projections estimating a $115 million loss after ancillaries.

Zegler, 23, has not taken the failure quietly. In a series of now-deleted social media posts, she lashed out, accusing “toxic males” and “fake reviews” of tanking the film. She also pointed fingers at Disney for last-minute edits that gutted the film’s final act, claiming the changes undermined her vision for a “progressive” Snow White. Fans on X have been merciless, with one viral post quipping, “Welcome back to reality, princess.” The backlash has only deepened the divide between Zegler and the audience she was meant to charm.

Zegler’s Controversial Crusade

The trouble began long before the film hit theaters on March 21, 2025. Zegler’s casting as Snow White sparked outrage among some fans who argued her Latina heritage didn’t align with the fairy tale’s “skin as white as snow” description. She clapped back on X in 2021, writing, “Yes, I am Snow White. No, I am not bleaching my skin for the role.” Her defiance won her supporters but set the tone for a polarizing promotional campaign.

Things escalated when Zegler called the 1937 animated classic “dated” and “weird” in 2022 interviews, criticizing its focus on a “stalker” prince and outdated gender roles. While she aimed to pitch a modernized Snow White, her comments alienated fans who cherish the original. Then came her political posts, including a pro-Palestine statement after the Snow White trailer dropped and a November 2024 rant against President Donald Trump and his supporters. Disney reportedly dispatched producer Marc Platt to New York to rein her in, and the studio hired a social media consultant to vet her posts, per Variety. But the damage was done.

Disney’s Damage Control

Disney’s response has been telling. The studio scaled back the film’s Hollywood premiere to a low-key event, avoiding the usual red-carpet fanfare. Insiders told Variety that Disney was distancing itself from Zegler, wary of her alienating half its audience. The film’s final act was reworked after test screenings, cutting a sequence Zegler championed as “empowering.” She’s reportedly furious, claiming the edits diluted the film’s feminist message. Meanwhile, Disney has quietly shelved plans for a Snow White sequel, a move confirmed by sources cited in Deadline.

The studio’s retreat reflects a broader problem: audience fatigue with live-action remakes. Recent flops like Dumbo and Wish suggest Disney’s nostalgia-driven strategy is faltering. Snow White’s 39% Rotten Tomatoes score and criticism of Gadot’s “horrendous” Evil Queen performance haven’t helped. As The Mirror noted, the film’s massive carbon footprint—surpassing even Fast X—has drawn additional ire, piling onto the negative buzz.

What’s Next for Zegler and Disney?

Zegler’s career is at a crossroads. Once hailed as a rising star after West Side Story, she’s now pivoting to smaller projects, including a London play and a low-budget indie drama with Marisa Tomei. Her defenders, like film critic David Ehrlich, argue she’s being scapegoated for Disney’s miscalculations. An open letter signed by over 180 journalists condemned Variety’s coverage as a “hit job” targeting her politics. Yet, as The New Yorker points out, blaming Zegler alone ignores deeper issues: a lackluster trailer, a bloated budget, and a story “nobody asked for.”

For Disney, the Snow White debacle is a wake-up call. CEO Bob Iger faces pressure to rethink the studio’s reliance on remakes and prioritize universal storytelling over divisive messaging. As Business Insider notes, Disney+ streaming and merchandise may soften the financial blow, but the damage to the brand is harder to quantify. With posts on X buzzing about Zegler’s “meltdown” and Disney’s “panic mode,” the saga is tailor-made for social media virality—perfect for Facebook’s algorithm, which favors emotionally charged content.

The Bigger Picture

The Snow White fiasco isn’t just about one film or one actress. It’s a symptom of Hollywood’s growing disconnect with audiences who crave authenticity over agenda-driven narratives. Zegler’s unapologetic stance may resonate with some, but her rhetoric has cost her—and Disney—dearly. As the film limps toward Disney+, the question isn’t whether it will find an audience, but whether Hollywood will learn from this poisoned apple of a project.