The live-action Snow White movie has been subject to a storm of controversy that carried through its production. Backlash surfaced in earnest when Latina actress Rachel Zegler was cast as Snow White. The negative feelings from Internet commentators continued after the casting of the seven dwarfs, who are mostly being played by tall, “average” actors. (Even Jackass‘ Wee Man laid into the House of Mouse for that latter decision.) More recently, rumors circulated that Zegler had been fired from the remake, and it appears those assumptions have been greatly exaggerated.
The rumors of Rachel Zegler began fired from the big-budget movie stemmed from an update shared by insider RPK on X (formerly known as Twitter). In that message, he discussed the West Side Story actress being recast in another project:
Paddington 3 wraps filming in two weeks and Rachel Zegler was recast due to strikes.
Those sentiments apparently led more than a few people to believe that if Rachel Zegler would be recast in Paddington 3, she would be fired from the Disney remake. Following the X post, Disney fan blog InsidetheMagic published an article with the headline “Disney Reportedly Fires Rachel Zegler from ‘Snow White’ Live Action.” Additionally, TikTok user Wood & Rustle made claims that Disney fired the 22-year-old actress over accusations of her being difficult to work with. The commentator also claimed her “vile” personality in interviews contributed to the supposed development. Take a look at the video below:
@user1415853005730
♬ original sound – Wool&Rustle
Rachel Zegler did experience backlash due to comments she made about her iteration of Snow White being more modern than the 1937 version. She stated that this updated version wouldn’t have the Disney princess fixating on true love or needing to be rescued by a prince. Her character’s driving motivation in the film is to become a leader to those around her. These changes apparently didn’t hit well with everyone. Nevertheless, Wood & Rustle’s video didn’t state a source for the information provided, still leaving the claims as nothing more than a rumor.
Fans can rest assured, as the Shazam: Fury of the Gods star will still be starring as “The Fairest of Them All.” Websites like Distractify and Snopes have debunked the exaggerated rumors, saying her in Paddington 3 recasting had nothing to do with Zegler as a professional. It was because the actress/singer was a member of SAG-AFTRA and they were on strike at the time the British movie was in production. Reports of her no longer being involved in the highly anticipated threequel had nothing to do with her involvement in the Disney flick. Even the actress herself possibly made light of these particular assertions with a cryptic X post, in which she said the following:
the rumors are true 🙁 i am three apples tall
We don’t know for sure if Rachel Zegler was responding directly to the rumors of her firing or just poking fun at the fact that Snow White continues to be at the center of the rumor mill in general. It’s worth mentioning that it wouldn’t make sense if Zegler was ousted from the production at this point. As she confirmed on X in July 2022, the upcoming Disney movie completed filming. Imagine how incredibly costly it would be to reshoot the entire movie and delay it in the process.
So it would seem we can absolutely throw these rumors out, and those looking forward to seeing Rachel Zegler take on the iconic role still have reason to be excited. Snow White opens in theaters on March 22nd as part of the 2024 movie schedule.