Viral post explains Rachel Zegler controversy and why people are “wrong”

❘ Published: 2023-10-19T16:18:02

Instagram/@rachelzegler

A post explaining why people are “wrong” about the Rachel Zegler Snow White controversy has gone viral – here’s what it says.

Ever since Rachel Zegler was cast as the Disney princess in the upcoming live-action Snow White movie, there’s been a stream of angry commentary online, in the same vein as Halle Bailey’s turn as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

Her co-stars have clapped back, a company apologized for its involvement, and out-of-context commentary has been rectified, but still the war wages on. Those who disagree with Zegler claim that she hates the original Snow White after a clip of a 2022 interview – in which she describes some of the narrative points they’ll be changing in the remake – circulated online.

One person who’s had enough of the hate has shared a lengthy post in which they explain why people are “wrong,” and it’s since gone viral, with many recommending for others to give it a read.

Viral post explains Rachel Zegler controversy and why people are “wrong”

In a long and detailed Tumblr post, user rachelzeglertruther provides the “missing context” about the Rachel Zegler controversy, starting off with Snow White.

“There’s a curated video of Rachel going viral, framed to make her seem like she’s never seen Snow White, she hates the story, she hates the character, she’s ungrateful, and single-handedly ruined Disney’s brand,” they wrote, adding that the clips were edited and that the full interview shows a woman who’s “excited and proud to be cast in an iconic role.”

They went on to point out numerous actors who have hated their characters in famous franchises, including Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Daniel Craig, and Robert Pattinson. “They’ve all expressed outright contempt for the roles and the films they were part of, but nobody cared… Rachel said nothing even closely resembling their remarks, but she’s being torn to shreds.”

The post highlights the plot points in Snow White that Disney is right to update, and that anyone who’s against the remakes should direct their anger towards Disney. And that if they don’t like how the focus isn’t just about true love, then to do the same towards writer Greta Gerwig.

Following this is what’s described as the “source of this campaign”: Zegler’s interactions with Gina Carano. The former MMA fighter appeared as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian Seasons 1 & 2, but in February 2021 she was dropped by Lucasfilm and told she could not appear in any future Star Wars projects following a number of controversial posts she made on social media.

In September 2020, Carano was accused of targeting the trans community after facing calls to add her pronouns to her Twitter/X account. In response, she changed her bio to “boop/bop/beep”.

She later explained in a tweet: “They’re mad cuz I won’t put pronouns in my bio to show my support for trans lives. After months of harassing me in every way. I decided to put three VERY controversial words in my bio.. beep/bop/boop. I’m not against trans lives at all. They need to find less abusive representation.”

And this is where Zegler comes in. Just a couple of hours later, the Snow White actress took to Twitter/X to write: “Do not make fun of pronouns.”

In a follow-up tweet, she said: “They are not a joke! Pronouns are validating! Pronouns are cool! Put your pronouns in your bio! I wear my pronouns on a button sometimes! It’s a good thing! Bye!”

Zegler finished by commenting: “It’s a fun time to remind you all to love Pedro Pascal.”

The Tumblr user explained: “Take this part with a grain of salt because I can’t confirm it, but Gina and her fans directly blame Rachel for her being banned from Twitter. Again, I really don’t think that matters as she’s harmful to the trans community and shouldn’t have a platform.

“What does matter is that fans of Gina have been stalking Rachel’s every move since then. Unfortunately for them, there wasn’t much they could use against her other than to call her woke and #snowbrown when she was cast a year later as the Disney princess.

Rachel Zegler on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

“The noise has always been there, but unless you were a fan of hers, you probably didn’t hear about it. It wasn’t until two years after this that they had something else against her.”

In the final paragraph, they wrote: “I’m tired of seeing this happen to young women. We let this happen to Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, Millie Bobby Brown, Halle Bailey, and Jenna Ortega.

“It’s one thing to call out celebrities and hold them accountable when they’re doing something actively harmful, but that’s not what this is about. That’s never been what this is about.

“We pick these girls to pieces and examine them and pull them apart to justify our hatred of young women who rise to success too quickly for our liking.”

Thousands of people have read the post, which you can check out in full here.

You can read more about the Rachel Zegler Snow White controversy below: