Zegler uploaded the “Free Palestine” post in August 2024, three days after the trailer for “Snow White” debuted.
By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner
The son of “Snow White” producer Marc Platt scolded the film’s lead star, Rachel Zegler, on social media, claiming that her decision to tweet “Free Palestine” contributed to the Disney film’s poor performance at the box office during its opening weekend.
Jonah Platt – a Jewish actor, activist, and podcast host – is also the brother of actor Ben Platt.
Jonah made comments criticizing the Golden Globe-winning actress, 23, last week in a since-deleted comment on an Instagram post for his podcast “Being Jewish.”
He was replying to an Instagram user who asked Jonah in the comments about a Variety report that claimed Marc “flew to New York to speak directly with” Zegler following backlash over her “Free Palestine” post on X.
“You really want to do this? Yeah, my dad, the producer of enormous piece of Disney IP with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, had to leave his family to fly across the country to reprimand his 20-year-old employee for dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting the movie for which she signed a multi-million dollar contract to get paid and do publicity for,” Jonah wrote in the comment, as seen in screenshots shared online.
He added that “this is called adult responsibility and accountability,” and claimed that Zegler’s “actions clearly hurt the film’s box office.”
Zegler uploaded the “Free Palestine” post in August 2024, three days after the trailer for “Snow White” debuted. The comment, which remains on her page, was criticized by pro-Israel supporters and fans of Zegler’s “Snow White” costar, Israeli actress Gal Gadot, 39.
Gadot is a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, a vocal supporter of her home country, and the eighth generation to be born in Israel on her father’s side.
The new “Snow White” is Disney’s live-action remake of 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the company’s first animated feature film.
Released on March 21, “Snow White” stars Zegler as the title character and Gadot as the Evil Queen. The Marc Webb-directed film made $43 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, which is well below the film’s budget of more than $250 million, according to the Associated Press.
Through this past Sunday, the film has made $66.8 million domestically and $143.1 million globally. “Snow White” is reportedly one of the worst-performing live-action Disney remakes and the film has garnered one of the lowest user ratings on the website IMDb.
In his Instagram comment, Platt continued to lambast Zegler, saying “Free speech does not mean you’re allowed to say whatever you want in your private employment without repercussions.”
He claimed that “tens of thousands of people” worked on the “Snow White” film, and he believes Zegler “hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of all the colleagues and crew and blue-collar workers who depend on that movie to be successful. Narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged.”
Controversy surrounding Zegler and Gadot’s relationship has followed “Snow White” ever since Zegler’s “Free Palestine” post last year.
The costars have been on completely separate press tours for the film – doing talk show appearances and other interviews alone, instead of together – and Zegler did not attend Gadot’s recent Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.
The director and producer of “Snow White” both attended the ceremony.
Zegler and Gadot presented together at the Academy Awards on March 2, but according to Variety, Zegler afterwards called Gadot “a professional pageant queen” in an Instagram reply. Sources said that the remark is “considered a dismissive way to describe a fellow actress.”
The “Snow White” premiere in Los Angeles on March 15 was scaled back and media outlets were not allowed to attend the red carpet to interview the costars.
Disney instead opted for photographers and a house crew in order to avoid having Zegler and Gadot answer questions on the spot. Meanwhile, the film’s premiere in the United Kingdom was canceled.
