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Snow White is releasing amidst controversy.
All of Disney’s live-action adaptations ruffle some feathers. Usually, it’s a discussion about art or copyright.
Starring Rachel Zegler as the titular fairy tale princess and Gal Gadot as the Queen, this adaptation will once again retell a Brothers Grimm classic.
Adaptations can often be polarizing. But the controversy surrounding this Snow White has little to do with the story.
Rachel Zegler plays the lead in ‘Snow White’
Sometimes, discussing a controversy means delving into the heart of a complex issue, or questioning whether we can separate a piece of media from a horrible person who is a part of it. Both of those do come up when discussing this film.
But in this case, the first “controversy” about Snow White is neither. There is a certain group of people who are furious that a latine actor like Rachel Zegler would play Snow White.
To be clear, Zelger has extremely fair skin and very dark hair. She matches the description of Snow White, despite not being white within the social construct of “race.”
In a 2022 interview, Zegler pointed out that the classic animated Snow White is an enduring favorite in many Spanish-speaking countries.
“I get to be a Latina princess,” she excitedly told Variety at the time.
This excitement, which will connect her and the story to many viewers, is exactly what makes this Snow White a controversy among certain people. If you see other people’s mere existence as a threat to yourself, then you will react negatively to their excitement and joy.
Is ‘Snow White’ ableist towards little people?
This is where we get into a Snow White controversy that is actually worthy of discussion rather than derision. Because Snow White famously finds refuge with seven dwarves.
In some versions of the story, this means seven creatures from folklore. But in others, it means seven little people — people with dwarfism.
“You’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” remarked Peter Dinklage in 2022. “Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there.”
The Emmy-winning actor continued: “It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way, but then you’re still making that f–king backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together?”
At the time, Disney responded by consulting with the dwarfism community. In 2023, it was revealed that of the seven dwarves in this Snow White adaptation, one is a little person, while the other six are not. Is that the right call? Or is it taking away acting jobs from little people?
As we said, a complex topic. The blurring of little people with mountain-dwelling fantasy people makes this casting complex. Some little people would rather see seven disabled actors fill the role. Others would prefer to not have their disability treated as a separate species, even in film.
(Just a reminder, many fantasy stories cast little people actors without portraying them as non-humans, from Nyomi Sedai on Wheel of Time to Dinklage’s Game of Thrones character)
Will this ‘Snow White’ adaptation be feminist?
In 2023, Rache Zegler suggested during a red carpet interview that Snow White will be more feminist than the 1937 film.
“It’s no longer 1937 . . . She’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be,” she excitedly told Variety.
In a sane world, that would be good news. Most people enjoy it when main characters have their own agency, making choices during a story rather than simply reacting with panicked hysterics. Unfortunately, we live in a world gone mad.
Disney is keeping the red carpet for ‘Snow White’ journalist-free so they don’t ask Gal Gadot or Rachel Zegler any pesky questions.
— Vulture (@vulture.com) March 11, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The usual clowns reacted with fury and indignation, taking aim at Rachel Zegler and raising the specter of controversy about the new Snow White.
Zegler herself expressed sadness that people tried to twist her words into criticism of the original film, which she loves.
She emphasized that Snow White can have love and independence, noting that the “love story is very integral.”
Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot clash on the genocide in Gaza
In late 2023, the government of Israel launched a massive bombing campaign and invasion of Gaza, ostensibly to liberate Israeli hostages captured by Hamas during the October 7 attack.
Some very deliberate conflation of Palestinians with Hamas combined with literal generations of propaganda meant that many Americans lack a contextual understanding of the plight that Palestinians already faced.
Reuters reports that the Israeli military slaughtered nearly 50,000 Palestinians.
More than half of the victims were women, children, or the elderly. And yes, this all ties in to the Snow White controversy.
Rachel Zegler has publicly affirmed her support for the people of Palestine. Yet the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has called for a boycott of Snow White.
The reason for that is Gal Gadot, who portrays the Queen. Gadot served in the IDF for two years, and has been openly and publicly pro-Israel. She even screened Israeli propaganda footage in an attempt to rally support for Israel’s ongoing atrocities.
In other words, people on both sides of one of the most polarizing atrocities in decades believe that one of the lead actresses is on the right side and that the other is not. Which means that people on both sides will be avoiding it, for either good or bad reasons.
Will the box office decide?
Disney is a behemoth, in part because the massive and controversial corporation routinely prioritizes profits over art and over people. The latest example is the company’s rollback of DEI policies, seemingly out of a craven desire to avoid being targeted by the Trump administration.
Even Disney has flops, however. And upsetting various and disparate (even mutually exclusive) groups of potential viewers can help make that happen.
At the same time … not everyone is aware of literally any of this. There are millions of blissfully offline people who will see “that pretty girl and the lady from Wonder Woman” and not know a single thing about either of them. What is that like?
‘Snow White’ Controversy Explained: Who Is Boycotting The Latest Disney … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.