After years of delays and controversy, Disney’s live action remake of Snow White is finally hitting theaters.
The rollout of the film has proven to be just as rocky as the production process thanks to the behavior of star Rachel Zegler. The press tour has been minimal due to her past remarks about the movie and hot-button political issues. And then there are the rumors about tension between Zegler, who is vocally anti-Israel, and her co-star Gal Gadot, who was born in Israel and served in the IDF.
All of this has led many to wonder what, if anything, Disney will recoup from this project that reportedly cost some $210 million to make. On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by commentator and influencer Link Lauren and Hollywood in Toto host Christian Toto to discuss Snow White and whether Zegler has effectively ended her career.
The Controversy
The Snow White remake controversy began back in 2023 when The Daily Mail obtained photos from the set that showed a stand-in for Zegler being trailed not by the traditional Seven Dwarves but by actors of varying heights, genders, and ethnicities.
It was then revealed that the updated plot would have only one little person and the characters would be known as “magical creatures” to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes.” Outrage ensued and Disney went back to the drawing board to add CGI dwarves.
But it wasn’t just the Seven Dwarves that were getting nixed. Zegler made a point to say her version of the protagonist has a “modern edge,” so she wouldn’t be waiting on Prince Charming. “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937, and we absolutely wrote a Snow White that’s not gonna be saved by the prince, and she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love,” she told Variety. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
And then came Zegler’s political outspokenness. Just days after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, she took to Instagram Stories to hysterically post about her disapproval. Zegler wrote that she found herself “speechless” and was processing how she could survive “another four years of hatred” in a world that is “fearful.” She concluded by paraphrasing a statement from Ethel Cain: “May Trump supporters and Trump himself never know peace.”
At the time, Megyn challenged Disney to fire Zegler. That didn’t happen, but the actress did emerge with an apology claiming “I let my emotions get the best of me.”
The Film
All of this led the release date to be pushed back from March 2024 to March 2025, and Show White will finally be in theaters this Friday. Toto got invited to an early screening and was somewhat surprised by what he saw. “It is not a train wreck,” he admitted. “It’s not a great film; it’s got flaws… but, given all the behind the scenes mayhem, I expected a Frankenstein’s monster that seems to be stitched together. It’s not quite that way.”
Toto said he generally finds these live action remakes “really hard to watch,” and this one was not. “One of the reasons why Rachel Zegler sticks around is because she has a beautiful voice and she has some talent,” he said. “I think that certainly helps her because she is a PR nightmare.”
But there were “flaws,” he explained, and they have to do with how the storyline was changed. The CGI Seven Dwarves and live “magical creatures” both made the cut, which Toto believes only works to “a degree.” As expected, the third act was “completely rewritten to be more empowering,” he added.
And all of this led to a difficult dichotomy. “They are so torn. They know there is a romance. They’ve got a prince-like character, but he is not a prince, he is like a Robin Hood guy,” he explained. “They know that there is going to be a kiss. There has got to be certain elements that they can’t avoid. And boy, they are uncomfortable with that particular sequence.”
“They are together, but they are not together. She’s got to be the hero. She’s got to be front and center. We’re going to push him to the side as much as possible… but he is pretty important to the story so we will drag him back in, then we will push him back out,” Toto continued. “It is awkward… It is really torturous at that point. It’s one of the weakest parts of the movie.”
The Fallout
While filmmakers may have cobbled together enough material to make the movie work, Toto doesn’t believe it will be a hit. “They have really done so much stepping on rakes over the last few months with this project, where the box office is just not going to recover,” he said.
Lauren believes this Snow White saga is further proof that Hollywood needs new material. “These guys at Disney are not that bright… and we see that because they can’t come up with any new [intellectual property]. Why not write some new movies,” he asked. “[They] have billions of dollars… you don’t have to rewrite and rework the classics… to be more feminist and inclusive of the female experience… Come up with something new, you guys.”
In Megyn’s view, this film will fail because “no one on the right side of America can stand the star of this movie.” So does that mean Zegler – who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of West Side Story – is going to find herself unemployable?
Toto said it is possible but likely challenging. “She is still fairly young… but if you are a studio, if you are a director, if you are a casting director, you’ve got to think twice or three times before hiring her,” he noted. “Listen, she is talented, she is attractive, she’s got skill, but there are a lot of actresses in Hollywood who bring all that to the table and are not going to absolutely sabotage your work.”
Ultimately, Megyn thinks Zegler needs to learn a lesson. “I don’t really care what happens with this movie,” she concluded. “I really hope her career is pretty much over. I’d be thrilled to see that.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Lauren and Toto by tuning in to episode 1,031 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.