Disney’s Snow White remake amplifies its own controversies by banning media from red carpet premiere

By now, anyone who works in publicity or PR should know about the Streisand Effect.

The worst thing you could do to deflect from unwanted attention is to wave a red flag and scream, “Look here! We’re trying to keep you away from our supposedly feuding lead stars!”

That’s exactly what Disney did when it decided to scale back its March 15 Hollywood premiere for the upcoming Snow White live-action remake, due for release in Australia next week.

Instead of a traditional event with a glittering red carpet, as the studio does with all of its most high-profile releases, according to Variety, it will instead host a screening in which the red carpet will only be open to photographers and in-house video crews.

No interviewing media will be allowed, despite being a regular fixture on red carpets.

In an attempt to keep at bay questions directed at the cast and crew about the roiling controversies that have plagued Snow White for years, all the move has done is draw even more attention to them a week out from release.

The film has been lurching from one scandal to the next for years but one of the major ones is that of the alleged conflict between its leads, Rachel Zegler who plays Snow White and Gal Gadot, cast as the Evil Queen.

Zegler is an advocate for Palestinian rights and statehood and has publicly urged politicians to support a ceasefire in Gaza. After the Snow White trailer hit 120 million views in August, Zegler posted her thanks to fans and added at the end of the message, “and always remember, free Palestine”.

Zegler’s, whose breakout role was as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, which she won after an open audition call, position puts her at odds with Gadot.

Gadot is one of Israel’s best known international stars and served two years in the Israeli Defence Force. She has been outspoken about the October 7, 2023 attack and even organised the screening of an IDF film in the US, which she didn’t end up attending due to security concerns.

Even though Zegler and Gadot presented together at the Oscars on March 2, their opposing views have turned Snow White into a de facto geopolitical battleground.

That’s the last thing Disney wants to represent, as it and other mainstream entertainment houses try to avoid anything political.

Especially on an issue in which, no matter which position you take, you end up alienating part of the potential audience for a production that reportedly cost $US240 million to make.

Zegler, 23, had become a target for right-wing culture warriors’ toxicity as soon she was cast in the role. On social media, the “anti-woke” brigade whinged that a biracial actor with a Columbian background couldn’t play a made-up cartoon character who had, in 1937, been described as having “skin as white as snow”.

After the November election, Zegler was forced to apologise for her comments, “F—k Donald Trump” and “May Trump supporters … and Trump himself never know peace”.

She later posted on social media, “I would like to sincerely apologise for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

Zegler also drew ire in 2023 when she said she found the original feature “weird” and that Prince Charming was “a guy who literally stalks her”.

She had also said, “I just mean that it’s no longer 1937. We absolutely wrote a Snow White that … she’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love, she’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can”.

None of that should be particularly controversial except, of course, to the right-wing online and media commentariat who bristle at attempts of progressing representation and social norms.

It would have been strange for Disney to remake a 1937 feature without updating it for a modern audience, especially a film centred on a female character whose passivity would’ve been anachronistic in 2025.

Additionally, while the film was still in production, it was criticised by actor Peter Dinklage. In a 2022 interview on Marc Maron’s podcast, Dinklage said, “I was a little taken aback by (the fact) they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

“You’re progressive in one way, but you’re still making that f—king backward story of seven dwarves living in the cave. What the f—k are you doing, man? Have I done nothing to advance the cause from my soapbox? I guess I’m not loud enough.”

Disney responded at the time that it was “taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community”.

When the trailer was released, it was revealed the seven dwarves were now CGI characters the studio termed “magic creatures”.

With a swirl of controversies on both sides of the culture war, whether media is present at the premiere or not, everyone has a lot of questions.