The leading lady of the Snow White remake has declined to acknowledge the vast backlash to the film ahead of its cinema release next week.
Rachel Zegler, 23, was quizzed about the criticism as she arrived at LAZX on Friday, but offered no response.
The protagonist of the Disney film, a re-imagining of the 1937 classic animation, spoke on other topics but avoided the subject of backlash.
When TMZ asked the actress how she felt about the film finally being released, she responded: “It feels wonderful, thank you.”
However, when the publication touched on the controversy associated with the film, Zegler refused to reply.
She was asked: “What would you say to those that are kind of just overly critiquing the film at this point? You’ve worked so hard on it.”
However, the actress simply walked towards a car waiting to pick her up and didn’t response to the question.
It comes following the announcement of plans to “scale back” premieres of the new film.
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Disney’s upcoming Snow White film has sparked controversy ever since details of the remake were confirmed, and the corporation has reportedly now scrapped plans for a UK premiere in order to avoid backlash for what some deem a “woke” adaptation.
Among other things, the film has been blasted for its decision not to include “the seven dwarves” in its title but has been met with a string of other complaints from both sides of the “woke” debate.
Disney remakes usually see a celebratory red carpet premiere in London, but the capital won’t be enjoying such an event for Snow White, with reports suggesting the decision was made to swerve any potential “anti-woke” reaction.
It’s understood there will be a “handful” of strongly managed press events, Mail Online reports.
A source told the publication: “Disney are already anticipating an anti-woke backlash against Snow White and have reduced the media schedule to just a handful of tightly 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 actress has previously been deemed “a waking PR disaster for Disney” following comments she has made about her role in the film.
During a 2022 interview, the actress labelled the film as “dated,” describing Prince Charming as “a guy who literally stalks [Snow White]”, going on to deem the story “weird”.
In response to the first-look, the use of CGI displayed in the advert also led to complaints, with some commenting it seemed overdone.
Disney also decided to scale back the Hollywood premiere of the remake, with the March 15 event seeing significantly limited media access.
Political tensions have also taken the spotlight in the run-up to the film.
Zegler has promoted “free Palestine” on social media, including a post after the first Snow White trailer was released online.
In contrast, Gadot, who is Israeli and served two years in the Israel Defense Forces, has become an outspoken supporter of Israel.
