A pro-Hamas social media post by “Snow White” star Rachel Zegler triggered a wave of death threats against her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot, forcing Disney to deploy extra security in a $270 million PR disaster.
Gadot, 39, who previously served in the Israel Defense Forces, became a target in August when Zegler capped a thread on X thanking fans for supporting the film’s trailer with “and always remember, free palestine.”
Stay informed with JBN email alerts! Get the latest updates on breaking stories, global events, and community news directly in your inbox.Inside Disney, executives were reportedly stunned by the young actress’s decision to mix Middle East politics with the promotion of what should have been a family-friendly blockbuster.
“She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone,” one insider told Variety of Zegler.
As threats against Gadot escalated, Disney was forced to pay for additional security to protect the “Wonder Woman” star while simultaneously attempting damage control with Zegler. A top executive reached out directly to the 23-year-old’s team, while producer Marc Platt made a special trip to New York for an in-person intervention.
This wasn’t the first time Zegler had created headaches for the studio. Earlier, she had publicly trashed Walt Disney’s original 1937 classic, claiming the prince “literally stalks” Snow White which infuriated fans of the beloved animated film. After Donald Trump’s election victory in November, she posted “F**k Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters… never know peace” to her 8 million fans on Instagram.
Following this latest controversy, Disney finally took control, assigning a company-paid “social media guru” to review all of Zegler’s posts before the film’s March premiere.
Meanwhile, Gadot maintained a more measured approach to politics, focusing solely on supporting hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack without mixing her advocacy with film publicity.
“After October 7th, I don’t talk politics because who cares about the celebrity talking about politics? I’m an artist. I want to entertain people,” Gadot explained to Variety. “But on October 7th, when people were abducted from their homes, from their beds, men, women, children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, were going through the horrors of what happened that day, I could not be silent.”
Despite widespread rumors of tension between the actresses, behind-the-scenes sources claim they actually worked well together during filming. Rumors of a feud brewing only began after actresses were scheduled for separate events during press junkets and were mostly kept apart at the film’s premiere in March.
With all the controversy surrounding “Snow White,” box office performance suffered greatly, with the film only bringing in just $87 million worldwide on its opening weekend.
Photo Credit: Disney
awfully biased article. Zegler expressed support for Palestine, not Hamas. I know many of you unfortunately don’t see the difference, but it’s there. She posted literally one message saying “Free Palestine,” which, in essence, is not wrong. The threats Gadot received were also there before, and they have nothing to do with Zegler’s post (correlation is not causality). It is also not true that this mini-episode had any impact on the fact that the film as such became a colossal flop. That is mainly due to the massive anti-campaign, but ultimately also because the film is objectively weak and the performances, including Gadot’s, are subpar. The purchase of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Gadot by Disney, in light of the other events, only caused more harm than good.
If she supported the Palestinians and not Hamas, she could have posted “FREE PALESTINE FROM HAMAS” instead of implying that Israel is to blame for their plight or doesn’t have the right to exist. That’s what “Free Palestine” implies.
I’m sure that Ziegler has a great career ahead….NOT!!
@david, and you’re not biased? there’s only two big roles and you only “include” Gadot for “subpar”? And you don’t see anything wrong with the fact that only one of them needs security, or faces backlash for being recognized by Hollywood? That would not fly for any other ethnicity, no matter what war or conflict. And you see nothing wrong with advocating to free Palestine (and erasing Jewish history by not also recognizing Israel) while lacking any compassion or advocacy for hostages? With such a large platform. The hostages represent 24 countries and 5 faiths. You, too, should use your time and voice for them. No one should want a world where ripping babies and Holocaust survivors and families from their homes (not to mention the other barbarism and atrocities, reminiscent of the Holocaust) is fair game.
As long as I live I will never understand Jews who defend antisemites.