Snow White star Rachel Zegler has been labeled a “fake feminist” after several videos of her throwing out the original cartoon version of the hit film have resurfaced online – sparking outrage from Disney aficionados.
Not only has the 22-year-old admitted that she “hated” the original 1937 film, she also described the film’s prince as a “stalker” and labeled the storyline as “weird.”
Rachel also promised that her version of Snow White “will not be saved by the prince,” saying “she won’t dream of true love.”
Several videos of Rachel speaking negatively about the original film in several interviews last year have resurfaced online, leading to many people slamming her and some even accusing the brunette of “gaslighting” her fans.
In a video posted to TikTok last week that has since been viewed more than 9.4 million times, user Angie, who uses @cosywithangie, criticized Rachel for not acknowledging that women have the right to pursue whatever they want.
Not impressed: Snow White star Rachel Zegler has been branded a ‘fake feminist’ after her comments about the upcoming Disney remake
Transformation: The 22-year-old actress plays the Disney princess in the upcoming live action remake
Dynamic duo: Rachel stars alongside Gal Gadot who will take on the role of the Evil Queen
Angie captioned the post, “Just because a woman values something different doesn’t make her any less valuable. Some women want a career, not a marriage.
“Some women want marriage or a family and not a job. Some women want BOTH. Everything needs to be heard, seen and appreciated.
“Write stories about ALL women and portray ALL of them as valuable and worthy, rather than molding them into one specific image of what you deem worthy. Thank you. #snowwhite #snowwhiteliveaction #snowwhitecontroversy #disney,” she added.
The TikTok post started with a clip of Rachel speaking to Variety in September 2022 where she clarified what she meant when she said she put a modern touch on the Disney Princess character.
“I’m just saying it’s no longer 1937. She won’t be saved by the prince and she won’t dream of true love,’ Rachel said.
“She dreams of becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader her late father told her she could be if she were fearless, honest, courageous, and sincere.”
The video then cut to Angie as she shared her thoughts and arguments, “I could literally write a dissertation on the pseudo-feminism criticizing Disney princesses.
Criticizing Disney princesses is not feminist. Not every woman is a leader, not every woman wants to be a leader, not every woman wants or craves power, and that’s okay.”
She continued, “It’s not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, want to get married, want to stay home, want to be a housewife. None of these things make you less valuable as a person or woman.’
Backlash: TikTok user Angie criticized Rachel for not acknowledging that women have the right to pursue whatever they want
Many other people quickly followed in Angie’s footsteps and uploaded their own TikTok videos questioning Rachel’s comments.
Rachel said again at the September 2022 Disney D23 Expo in California, saying, “The original cartoon came out in 1937, and that’s blatantly obvious. There is a lot of attention for her love story with a man who literally stalks her. Foreign! Foreign! So we didn’t do that this time.
“We have a different approach than what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story just because we cast a guy in the movie,” Rachel continued, referring to Andrew Burnap.
“All of Andrew’s scenes can be cut, who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby!’ she joked, before admitting in a separate interview that she was “terrified” when she got to ride Snow White at Disney World.
‘I was afraid of the original version. I think I saw him once and then never picked it up again. I’m so serious,” she said in the interview alongside Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen.
“I watched it once, and then I went on the ride at Disney World, which was called Snow White’s Scary Adventures. “Doesn’t sound like something a small child would enjoy. I was terrified of it, never visited Snow White again,” she added.
TikTok user @nuttybutter96 shared snippets of the interview, questioning why Zegler was “so smug,” captioning her post: “If you hate the original so much, why would you want to make the remake?” Make sure it makes sense…”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a condescending, smug Disney princess in my life,” they admitted in the clip.
Caught: Rachel was accused of ‘contradicting herself’ when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in March 2023
Not happy: The brunette angered people with comments she made on the SAG-AFTRA picket line
To Be Honest: Rachel Said She ‘Hated’ The Original 1937 Snow White Movie
It’s just that every interview I’ve seen her do for this movie is so, so smug and condescending. Should she cheer us up as women? Because it sounds fucking awful and I don’t want to be included in that part of being a woman.”
Another TikTok post shared footage of Rachel on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in March, where she told him she said, “I get stopped for pictures every time I line up for the Snow White ride and it’s the w.. .’
In a rather awkward moment, Jimmy replied, “Wait, how many times are you in line for the ride with Snow White?” to which Rachel quickly fired back, “I’m a narcissist!”
The TikTok user accused Rachel of “contradictory herself” over her 2022 comments that she was “terrified” of the ride, captioning their post: “Gurl is gaslighting rn.”
The comments on Twitter weren’t much better when one person was furious: “Sorry can rachel Zegler and the rest of fake feminists stfu?”
Another person posted, “Rachel Zegler really deserves a few lashes because in every interview she confidently thinks she’s pro-feminist, but talks herself into the 180s to just be anti-feminist.”
And a third tweeted: “Rachel Zegler is not a feminist, a woman who thinks women are less strong or can stand up for themselves because they long for love or want to be loved is *not* a feminist in my eyes.”
Rachel seemingly responded to the backlash, tweeting on Friday, August 11, “I hope the world gets kinder,” before adding, a few hours later, “I love you very much. forever and ever. don’t forget to be nice. treat each other with patience and empathy. remember that you are loved unconditionally, regardless of your mistakes, regardless of your misunderstandings. you deserve it. you deserve love. you deserve to live without fear.”
When one fan responded and asked, “are you like that too.” extremely exhausted all the time,” Rachel replied, saying, “I’m so exhausted. I think it’s over for me, tbh.’
Earlier this month, Rachel sparked more anger online when she was filmed on the picket amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.