Resurfaced NSFW photos of Rachel Zegler propel arguments she isn’t suitable to play Snow White

If the discourse surrounding Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White has you sniffing the air for putrid scents of toxic masculinity, far-right idealism, and racism — oh, and déjà vu — you’re not alone. Like Halle Bailey before her, Rachel Zegler is experiencing backlash at having been cast to bring the OG Disney princess to the big screen, and resurfaced NSFW (not suitable for work) photos of her on social media aren’t doing the soon-to-be princess any favors. 

When Halle Bailey, a talented young Black actress and singer, was tapped to play the red-headed mermaid princess Ariel in Disney’s live-action reimagining of the animated classic The Little Mermaid, the internet all but exploded with backlash from the very types of people you can imagine would be upset about a Black actress playing a character that was previously portrayed with having white skin. 

Similarly, Zegler, a young Latina actress playing a character whose name literally has the word “white” in it, is experiencing a similar discourse. However, unlike Bailey, whose public persona is as squeaky clean as the spit-shined fork Ariel twirls in her hair, Zegler has the added pressure of dealing with not just her skin color (a dumb thing to “deal” with in the first place) but the brazen opinions she’s aired in the past that fly in the face of a dainty damsel in distress who waits for a kiss from a prince to start her life. 

Now, before you jump to conclusions and assume Zegler is caught up in explicitly déshabillé photos, no. That’s not the case. The resurfaced photos of Zegler merely catch her in the act of raising a certain middle finger to the camera. It’s sign language —  albeit an artifact of a sign language that has no place in the workplace — but sign language nonetheless, and many believe it’s unbecoming of a Disney princess. And because certain people will find any excuse to dig up the whole “woke” conversation, these photos of Zegler have rallied detractors like moths to a flame. If you’re squeamish, turn away now. You’ve been warned. 

You see, because of these photos, one in which Zegler has even captioned “respect women,” she is being labeled someone who “hates Walt Disney,” “hates family values,” and most commonly, “hates men.” She’s being accused of having a “toxic social media past,” being an “unfriendly militant feminist,” being “hyper political,” and being a “polarizing narcissist.” In other words, just sit still, look pretty, kiss the man, say your lines, and take your paycheck, lady. Stop being — what’s the word — oh right, human. 

Because social media is a vacuum that doesn’t actually represent humanity and some people still have their heads screwed on straight, not everyone is on board with the backlash. (Thank god for sanity?) In fact, they are calling it out for what it is: a campaign of hate. 

In the wise, albeit explicit, words of Jamie Lee Curtis, “Let this woman just shine her light.” 

This person sums things up quite nicely if you ask me.

In fact, if you pan back and look at this year’s films, you’ll see that two of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year have belonged to women-led projects, The Little Mermaid and Barbie. Add in the discourse surrounding Snow White and you’ve got yourself a lot of hot air taking up space on the internet. Indeed, “Snow White” trends every other day on X (formally known as Twitter) with conversations like this.

There’s been so much backlash with Zegler and Snow White that recent rumors suggested Disney might even pull the movie. Rest assured, this debate is nowhere near done, and if The Little Mermaid is proof of anything, it’s that trolls don’t go to the movies, and Snow White will become the next live-action Disney movie to sell out theaters around the world, wokeness and all.