Live action film was plagued by controversies leading up to release

Jonah Platt, son of Snow White producer Marc Platt, has slammed the film’s lead, Rachel Zegler, for “immature” social media posts that he claims hurt the film’s prospects.

Zegler, 23, who plays the film’s titular character, showed support for Palestinian people when she shared the first official Snow White trailer on X in August 2023. She thanked her fans for their support, before adding in a separate post: “And always remember, free Palestine.”

The post, which garnered 8.8 million views, caused Disney executives to immediately contact Zegler’s team, with Marc Platt flying to New York to speak to the star, according to Variety.

Zegler’s co-star Gal Gadot, who is Israeli, reportedly began to receive death threats following the post and Disney had to pay for increased security for the star and her family.

Gadot has long been an advocate for Israel. In her 20s, she served as a combat fitness instructor in the Israeli military for two years, which included the period of Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006.

After the events of 7 October 2023, Gadot posted in support of Israel on Instagram. “I stand with Israel, you should too. The world cannot sit on the fence when these horrific acts of terror are happening!”

She has since elaborated on her stance, telling Variety: “I had to speak up. I could not be silent. I was shocked by the amount of hate, by the amount of how much people think they know when they actually have no idea.”

Gal Gadot, Marc E Platt, and Rachel Zegler attend the premiere of Snow White in Hollywood (Getty)

Jonah Platt, 38, known for roles in Netflix’s Uncoupled and Amazon Studios’ Being the Ricardos as well as for hosting the podcast Being Jewish, defended his father in a now-deleted response to an Instagram commenter who called Marc Platt “creepy as hell” for reprimanding a young actor.

“Your dad flew to NYC to reprimand a young actress? Any words on this? Cuz that’s creepy as hell and uncalled for. People have the right to free speech, no? Shame on your father,” the commenter wrote on a post promoting Johan Platt’s podcast.

In response, Jonah Platt wrote a lengthy post criticising Zegler for allegedly “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”.

“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,” he wrote.

“This is called adult responsibility and accountability. And her actions clearly hurt the film’s box office. Free speech does not mean you’re allowed to say whatever you want in your private employment without repercussions.

“Tens of thousands of people worked on that film and she 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.”

The Independent has reached out to Zegler, Marc and Jonah Platt, and Disney for comment.

After the results of the US presidential election were declared, Zegler had posted: “F*** Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters never know peace”.

Marc Platt reportedly pulled Zegler aside at the time and explained that she was signalling to a chunk of America that the forthcoming Disney film was not for them.

After some discussion, the star agreed to work with a social media specialist paid for by Disney who approved all her posts leading up to the film’s release date, per Variety.

Fans on social media have spoken in support of Zegler.

“Guys be nice to him. His father just reunited with the family after a short trip to New York. This is a very emotional time for them,” one commenter posted on one of Platt’s Instagram posts.

“Rachel Zegler had one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood fly out specifically to ask her to delete a tweet in support of Palestine and she refused. More backbone and integrity at 23 than 99% of powerful people in this country. A queen,” another person posted on X.

The new Disney live action remake of Snow White had a sluggish start at the box office, making just $43m over its opening weekend on an estimated production cost of $270m.

The film’s lengthy production process has been beset by controversies, unrelated to Zegler’s social media posts.

The film initially drew the ire of rightwing commentators after Zegler’s casting was announced. They argued that the Latina should not play a character who is referred to as having “skin as white as snow”.

Zegler further provoked traditionalists by arguing the plot needed to be updated as, in the original film, Prince Charming “literally stalks her”.

“It’s no longer 1937,” Zegler said. “She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”

Snow White opened to generally poor reviews, with The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey handing out a one-star review and arguing that “Zegler deserves better than the lazy, visually repellent Snow White”.