'Snow White' producer's son calls actress Rachel Zegler narcissistic, damaging film and co-stars with controversial comments.
Actor Jonah Platt, son of Disney producer Marc Platt, has hit back at an Instagram comment that his father was "scary" for flying from Los Angeles to New York to counsel Rachel Zegler over her political post on X. "Yes, my dad, the producer of a major Disney production with a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, had to leave his family behind to fly to warn a 20-year-old employee about bringing personal politics into the middle of promoting a film," Jonah wrote.
The 38-year-old actor said that Rachel Zegler signed a multimillion-dollar contract to star in and promote Snow White, so she needed to take responsibility. "This is called adult responsibility. Her actions clearly hurt the box office. Freedom of speech does not mean you can say whatever you want without worrying about the consequences," he explained.
Jonah accused the 23-year-old star of affecting the cast and crew of the film because of her immature actions, endangering the income of thousands of workers who depended on the success of the film. "Narcissism is not something that should be indulged or encouraged," Jonah concluded.
A day earlier, Variety cited sources saying that producer Marc Platt flew to New York to talk to Rachel Zegler about the X post, but she refused to delete it. Rachel has expressed a number of political views online, including posting "Free Palestine" shortly after celebrating the first trailer for Snow White released last August. She also harshly criticized supporters of President Donald Trump during last year's election.
Disney executives were concerned that Rachel's political statements would turn off half of the potential audience for Snow White. Disney reportedly hired a social media expert to vet the 2K actress' posts before the film's release on March 21.
Rachel Zegler was also said to have made disrespectful comments to her co-star Gal Gadot - who plays the Evil Queen - and clashed with her over her political views. She was also turned away by many viewers for calling the original Snow White "outdated" and promising that her film would be more modern and enlightening.
Snow White opened last weekend with a three-day opening in North America of $43 million, falling far short of expectations and becoming one of Disney's worst live-action openings. In the foreign market, the film only reached $44.3 million as of Sunday. Meanwhile, the production budget was up to $270 million.
Rachel Zegler was born in 2001 in New Jersey, USA, of Colombian and Dutch descent. She beat many candidates to play Snow White thanks to her singing and acting talent despite her appearance being different from the image of the famous princess depicted in the story. Before this film, Rachel made her mark with the musical West Side Story (2021), the action film Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023).