From Fairy Tale to Feud, Explaining the Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot Drama
Rumors of drama between the two leading actors of the live-action Disney remake continue to spread.
There are plenty controversies surrounding Disney's Snow White, a live-action retelling of the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that hit theaters Friday. Among the drama are rumors of an ongoing feud between the movie's starring actors, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
Zegler was cast as the titular character in July 2021, and Gadot's casting as the Evil Queen was announced in November later that year. Since their casting announcement made headlines, there's been some sort of chatter, including racist "concerns" that Zegler being of Latin descent meant she couldn't play a character with snow-white skin, per Entertainment Weekly. Between the two lead actors, the tension is palpable when they're in the same room, and the studio has gone as far as to separate the actors during the press tour leading up to the film's theatrical release on March 21, 3025.
As preparations for the Hollywood premiere of the reimagined film went underway, Disney announced that the festivities would be an intimate affair featuring a pre-party and screening at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, per Variety. The studio announced that media coverage would be limited to photographers and house crews, a significant scale-back compared to the studio's usual resplendent red carpets. The studio didn't provide any commentary regarding this decision, but people are aware that Zegler and Gadot aren't close pals.
Keep scrolling to get a better understanding of when their feud began and why Zegler and Gadot seem to not be getting along.
When and Why the Alleged Feud Began
The speculation about when the feud between Zegler and Gadot began has been ongoing. An unidentified source spoke out to People Magazine and confirmed that the actors' age gap and opposing political views are the architects of their lack of chemistry.
The delayed film was presented at the D23 Expo, an event hosted and organized by the Official Disney Fan Club, in 2022, and all signs pointed to an amicable coexistence between the two at the time. They didn't seem like best of friends, but no tension was noticeable.
The film wrapped production in 2022, and in the Fall of 2023, Disney announced that the film would be pushed back to March 2025, instead of its initial release in March 2024. Additional filming took place in June 2024, and it was during the 2024 D23 Expo where more was revealed, including a relationship between Zegler and Gadot that appeared strained. Some fans were waiting to see how the two would following a series of social media posts revealing their opposing political views. Gadot, an Israeli actor, posted her stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in December 2023 on Instagram and continues to express pro-Israel views. The Wonder Woman actor also served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years.
Zegler, on the other hand, has made her opinions on Palestine clear, especially in the months after tens of thousands of Gazans have been killed after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. In May 2024, the West Side Story actor took to X (formerly Twitter) to post her political views on the ongoing war, reaffirming her support for Palestinians. The lines had been drawn at that point, but the two remained steadfast in their professionalism, avoiding clear signs of drama. It was all smiles at the D23 Expo in August 2024.
Struggles on the Press Tour
The Snow White actors' recent public appearances have kept the gossip train moving. The duo presented the Best Visual Effects award at the 2025 Academy Awards ceremony, and while it was professional, people claimed they witnessed discomfort between the two. A promotional tour accompanies a theatrical release, a tradition in Hollywood, and typically, the cast attends interviews, photocalls, and other promotional events together or they're paired off to reach as many people as possible and talk about their film. (Remember Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's Wicked press tour?) It's common for the two leading stars to do the press tours together since the film is centered around their characters, but that's not the case with Zegler and Gadot.
There's speculation about why the two stars were split up: that the studio wanted to avoid any more drama and controversy to arise. Zegler and Gadot have been doing press interviews and even premieres separately, which unfortunately has had the opposite effect that Disney was hoping for as more rumors continue to arise. Zegler attended the Spain premiere of Snow White, but Gadot was nowhere to be seen as she was across the Atlantic Ocean doing press in New York.
A third party told Peolpe that Gadot is frustrated by fans' conversation of a feud and has attempted to hush any rumors about her feelings toward Zegler. They said, “She enjoyed filming. She was fine with Rachel but they are not friends. They have nothing in common... They did a job together and that’s it.”
