As one of the most anticipated and expensive films of the year, it would only be right for Disney to roll out the red carpet for its forthcoming Snow White.
But The Mail can reveal bosses are refusing to hold a star-studded premiere in the UK for the movie over fears of backlash over ‘woking it up’.
Despite the release date not being until later this month, the film has already been lambasted for having a Snow White played by Latin actress Rachel Zegler and not including the ‘seven dwarfs’ in the тιтle.
What would usually be a big Leicester Square event full of lights and cameras for a £212million live action remake of the 1937 cartoon film, instead there will be no celebration on British soil in an attempt to avoid anti-woke backlash. Instead there will be a ‘handful’ of тιԍнтly controlled press events.
An insider told the Mail: ‘Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of тιԍнтly controlled press events.
‘That is why they have taken the highly unusual step not to host a London premiere for the film and are minimising the amount of press questions that Rachel Zegler gets.’
The Mail can reveal bosses are refusing to hold a star-studded premiere in the UK for the new Snow White movie over fears of backlash over ‘woking it up’
The decision comes after Snow White actress Rachel Zegler was labelled ‘a walking PR disaster for Disney’ having made controversial comments about her role.
In a 2022 interview Miss Zegler, 23, called the original film ‘dated’ and critiqued elements like Snow White’s relationship with Prince Charming as a ‘guy who literally stalks her,’ as well as calling the film ‘weird’.
An earlier interview also saw Zegler criticising Disney’s ‘problematic’ portrayal of princesses and women in positions of power while noting how the film scared her as a child also only added fuel to the fire.
Beyond her comments, Rachel Zegler’s role as Snow White was met with further controversy in light of Disney’s recent push for more culturally representative storytelling.
Zegler, who is half-Colombian and half-Polish, was questioned as to why she was granted the role when Snow White is a character who hails from Germany.
After being postponed for its 2024 release date due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Snow White is now set for release on March 21, 2025.
When the first Snow White trailer dropped in December 2024, it quickly racked up more than a million dislikes as it also revealed the overuse of CGI.
The film has already been lambasted for having a Snow White played by Latin actress Rachel Zegler and not including the ‘seven dwarfs’ in the тιтle
What would usually be a big Leicester Square event for a £212million live action remake of the 1937 film, instead there will be no celebration in an attempt to avoid anti-woke backlash
Zegler, 23, takes on the тιтular Disney Princess in Marc Webb’s $209M-budget ‘PC’ live-action remake of the Brothers Grimm fairytale opposite Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen
It has also already disenchanted David Hand, whose father worked on the cartoon which won Walt Disney an honorary Oscar.
Hand said that the duo ‘would be turning in their graves’ as the original was made ‘with good taste’.
Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of the movie over Disney’s casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot, 39, as the evil queen.
Gadot, who starred in the Wonder Woman blockbuster movies, has publicly advocated for Israel over the years, meanwhile Zegler promoted the films new trailer with a ‘free Palestine’ tag.
A premiere will however take place on American soil with Miss Zegler, Ms Gadot, Andrew Burnap, 34, who plays Prince Charming all expected.