A Whole New World: Disney Actress Actually Apologizes for Anti-Trump Rant, But Is It Just 'Damage Control'?
It’s “a whole new world” for Disney: One of its stars is apologizing, in rather unequivocal terms, for a political outburst.
Granted, you could probably call it “damage control” — as, indeed, some did. The House of Mouse has learned, via a steady stream of red ink, that alienating half of America is not a particularly good incentive to get people to see your films, unless your name is Michael Moore or Matt Walsh.
To be fair, Rachel Zegler might be better cast as a “Bowling for Columbine” type. If you remember Zegler for her acting, it’s for her role as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s politically charged remake of “West Side Story,” which got critical plaudits but flopped so hard at the box office that Spielberg might as well have spent that time filming a woke redo of “Ishtar.”
However, Zegler is probably best known for her role in a movie that hasn’t come out yet — another classic reimagined as a modern sociopolitical allegory, this time “Snow White.” And, quelle surprise, the fact that she’s best known for a movie that hasn’t even debuted yet isn’t a good sign.
Zegler prompted “crisis talks” within Disney last year after she said, regarding the upcoming 2025 film, that it’s “really not about the love story at all” and that Prince Charming was actually a “stalker.”
“It’s no longer 1937 … and she’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” she said in an interview.
That controversy almost kinda sort of not really went away when the trailer came out, and this was Zegler’s reaction:
and always remember, free palestine.
— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) August 12, 2024
Will Snow White be trading the ribbon in her hair for a keffiyeh? You can find out when we won’t — or not, like us.
Anyway, just in case there was any doubt, Zegler was not happy (or any of the other seven dwarves, for that matter) with the Nov. 5 election results. That she managed to make news for her subsequent rant on social media is therefore a testimony to just how unhinged it was.
In an Instagram story posted Wednesday to her official account, Zegler had one wish: “May trump supporters and trump voters and trump himself never know peace.”
“I find myself speechless in the midst of this. another four years of hatred, leaning us towards a world i do not want to live in,” Zegler wrote.
“There is also a deep, deep sickness in this country that is shown in the sheer number of people who showed up for this man who threatens our democracy,” she continued. “it is terrifying the number of people who stand behind what this man preaches. it is a foolish subscription to a false sense of security, of masculinity, of intelligence, of patriotism, and of humanity. there is no help, no counsel, in any of them. i could go on. i won’t. i feel sad. you probably do, too. f*** this.”
She also urged people to leave the social media platform X because Elon Musk owns it and supported Trump: “I don’t use that app for a reason. he helped get that man elected and you’re giving him business,” she said.
And just in case you didn’t get the message, this was the coda: “f*** donald trump.”
WARNING: The following post contains graphic language that some readers will find offensive.
Rachel Zegler hopes Trump supporters never know peace, tells her followers to get off X because Elon Musk supported Trump, and ends with- “Fuck Donald Trump.”
THIS is Disney’s Snow White. (btw she probably won’t face any consequences for posting this by Disney due to their… pic.twitter.com/daDVfUi3l1
— Steph Anie (@mynerdyhome) November 13, 2024
Just so we’re clear, then: Freedom for the terrorist-controlled quasi-state that raped and murdered thousands of innocent people on Oct. 7, then took babies hostage because that wasn’t barbaric enough already, but “f*** donald trump” because he says mean stuff sometimes and might enforce border laws.
Anyway, this got exactly the kind of attention that the already-troubled “Snow White” remake didn’t need, especially via a viral counter-rant from podcaster and SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly in which she called Zegler “a pig” who needs to be fired.
“Picture this, a Broadway actress who said, ‘F Biden supporters, may Biden and Kamala never know peace.’ That person would be fired so fast it would make your head spin,” Kelly said.
“Rachel Zegler has to go.”@MegynKelly says Disney should fire ‘Snow White’ actress Rachel Zegler after insane post about Trump voters. Watch the FULL clip – https://t.co/GcQhnRjFqR pic.twitter.com/xXFXEvTJx8
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) November 14, 2024
“Hello, Disney! You’re gonna have to redo your film again, because this woman is a pig, and you fired Gina Carano for far less than this nonsense,” she added.
As the New York Post noted, Carano was the actress fired from “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian” because of posts comparing the treatment of conservatives in America with dissenters in Nazi Germany. Hyperbolic, perhaps, but nothing on the scale that Zegler has managed to pull off on at least three occasions now.
Zegler probably isn’t going to be fired, because Disney has sunk a not-inconsiderable amount of resources into this thing already and even Ezra Miller — a nonbinary-identifying actor accused and charged with a slew of offenses including burglary, harassment and grooming — was allowed to keep his starring role in the exorbitantly over-budget adaptation of “The Flash.” (Granted, that bombed, too.)
However, Zegler did do something unusual for an actress who went on an anti-Trump rant — she did what one social media pundit noted was “damage control,” at the very least:
Rachel Zegler has apologized for lashing out at Trump supporters! The Snow White trailer is about to drop this month, and Disney is doing DAMAGE CONTROL!! pic.twitter.com/SwW5eAoj7E
— Steph Anie (@mynerdyhome) November 15, 2024
“Hi everyone, I would like to sincerely apologize for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the best of me,” she wrote Thursday.
“Hatred and anger have caused us to move further and further away from peace and understanding, and I am sorry I contributed to the negative discourse,” she said. “This week has been emotional for so many of us, but I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own. I am committed to contributing positively toward a better tomorrow.”
Translation: She is committed to contributing positively to not being labeled box-office poison before her biggest movie even lands in theaters.
At least that’s something, however. Keep in mind that the $209 million film has already been the subject of numerous delays, many of them relating to the poorly received depiction of the seven dwarves, who were now conspicuously “inclusive” — part of that inclusivity meaning that many of them weren’t even dwarves. The original actors will now be replaced with CGI dwarves — an expensive process, especially with a lead actress practically throwing box-office receipts out the window with each new social media post. Yet, we haven’t heard any sort of “well, we certainly screwed that up” admissions from either the talent or the executives responsible for this trainwreck-in-progress.
So, yes, a mea culpa from a Disney actress — especially this Disney actress — may indeed be “a whole new world.” But, to extend the pun further, I don’t think too many parents who have been paying attention to this are going to let it go, not after this much controversy over a live-action movie that looks and sounds drastically inferior to the 1937 animated classic it intends to supplant — and which you could just as easily watch instead of this dreck.
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