Actress Rachel Zegler, who stars in Disney’s new controversial remake of “Snow White,” has faced backlash on the internet after making disparaging comments about the original 1937 production of the film. Zegler’s backlash stems from comments where she alleges the Prince was a “stalker” in the original movie.
Recently, a video of the actress went viral on X (formerly Twitter), where Zegler claimed, “I mean, you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird. So we didn’t do that this time.”
“We have a different approach to, what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story, just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude,” she continued. “It’s one of those things that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.”
Conservative commentator, Matt Walsh sounded off on Disney and Zegler, writing on his X account, “Disney is trying a really interesting marketing strategy where the star of the new Snow White spends a year before the movie’s release publicly talking about how much she despises Snow White.”
Disney is trying a really interesting marketing strategy where the star of the new Snow White spends a year before the movie’s release publicly talking about how much she despises Snow White
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 13, 2023
The backlash against Zegler’s comments has led to speculation that they could seriously impact box office ticket sales for the movie. Many moviegoers, particularly conservative audiences, do not want political messaging associated with their entertainment, especially if it is a children’s movie.
In recent years, Disney has already garnered a reputation for injecting woke political agendas into its entertainment offerings. Zegler’s comments about the new “Snow White” plot suggest that this type of messaging has been incorporated into the film. So before the movie has even been released, many people already have a preconceived notion about it long before its release.
Judging by the reactions on the internet, many have already decided they won’t be seeing the movie. “And they wonder why we don’t watch their movies anymore,” one person commented under Matt Walsh’s post. “My kids won’t be going,” another user added.
According to branding expert Carla Speight, Zegler’s comments could lead to decreased ticket sales. “Disney will need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White and what they do and don’t allow their actors to say about it going forwards. They simply cannot repeat the same mistakes and allow their actors to be so vocal in their own personal opinions during promotions,” she said.
Speight continued to explain the potential ramifications of Zegler’s remarks. “It can have a huge impact on ticket sales, especially with the amount of negative backlash so early in the promo trail. They need to get the key messaging and strong selling point into a brief for the cast of the film and ensure they stick to it. If they don’t, it’s a disaster waiting to happen and the backlash will keep growing,” the expert stated.
Note: Featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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