Disney’s upcoming Snow White movie has been the most controversial live-action adaptation the studio has taken on, and the movie hasn’t even been released yet. First, there has been the fact that the movie stars Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler, who at best, seem to not get along. Then there’s Gadot’s controversial not just pro-Israeli, but pro-IDF stance. Gadot served in the IDF for two years. Contrast that with Zegler’s vocal Pro-Palestine stance and it feels like a recipe for disaster.
Then there are the criticisms of the film itself, from the story to the dwarves and Snow White always had an uphill hill to climb. But there’s no doubt that Zegler and Gadot’s rumored feud was at the center of the issues.
But what exactly happened between Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler? How did the rumored feud start? Here’s everything we know about their relationship, how it deteriorated, and where the two stand today.
Zegler was cast as the lead of Snow White months before Gadot was cast as the Evil Queen, meaning she was conceived as the centerpiece of the project. At the time she was cast Zegler’s film debut, in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, had yet to premiere, but it had already been filmed.
Gadot is cast to star opposite Zegler five months later. West Side Story had yet to come out, and Gadot was still a much bigger star than Zegler, but Zegler was still the lead of the project and playing the titular role.
Zegler comes to film Snow White with a much bigger profile than when she was first cast, and she and Gadot reportedly have a cordial if not close relationship as the film is originally filmed. There are, at least, no reports of any on-set problems.
Zegler posted on Instagram a long message, that read in part, “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.” She went on to apologize for her remarks. At this point, reports indicate the relationship between the two stars of the films is frosty, at a time when Disney has to start thinking about upcoming press. The two were never friends, but their different political opinions seem to have been what really took their relationship from cordial to distant at best.
Zegler and Gadot didn’t even look at each other or exchange any words even as they presented an award together at the Academy Awards on March 2, 2025. The mood was decidedly frosty as the two read from the teleprompter and shared not one joke and didn’t even try to banter about their shared experience of filming a movie together. In fact, you’d think they didn’t like each other, with fans claiming it was obvious they “can’t stand each other” after seeing them present the award together. Perhaps it’s because they, you know, don’t. It’s been a long few months of the two of them making clear they had absolutely nothing in common on social media, after all.
“Never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States, and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying and cheering on a massacre of Jews,” she said in her remarks. The organization has been accused of being racist, and Gadot has been criticized for supporting not the indiscriminate killing of innocent Palestinians.
Amid Disney scaling back promo for the movie, Zegler was seen performing without Gadot at an event or the movie in Spain. The two are still expected to attend the premiere.
Disney reportedly scaled back Snow White promo amid reports that the studio reportedly didn’t “know what to do” with Zegler.
“Disney’s lead actress is out of control,” a movie insider told Page Six. “They don’t know what to do … she’s an outspoken 20-something and Disney chiefs have called her directly and asked her to tone down her posts. They’ve called her management, but she won’t listen. It’s been this way the entire way through filming. But it’s the tying of her politics to ‘Snow White’ that is upsetting.”
Page Six reported that Gal Gadot promoted the movie at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. sans Rachel Zegler.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the Snow White premiere happened without press on the red carpet at the El Capitan Theater on March 15, 2025. Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler appeared together in “high spirits.”
In an Instagram post thanking the cast and crew, Rachel Zegler seemingly leaves out Gal Gadot in her carousel. “this movie was a life-changing experience that has held about four years of my career, she wrote in the caption. “the growing up you do from the age of twenty (when i was cast) to twenty-three (the age i am now) cannot be accurately described, yet they exist here on film forever. i became a real adult during the course of this film— learned hard lessons, did hard things, laughed, cried, turned 21, lived across the ocean from my family, made new friends, and completely fell in love with this group of people i got to work with for three magical summers in london. we had the greatest crew in the world on this movie. it cannot be overstated. this photo dump doesn’t even dig into the fun, the magic, and the love that was shared throughout this process.”
In honor of the Snow White trailer being released, she posted on X, “i love you all so much! thank you for the love and for 120m views on our trailer in just 24 hours! what a whirlwind. i am in the thick of rehearsals for romeo + juliet so i’m gonna get outta here. bye for now. ❤️🍎🕊️” She replied in the thread, “and always remember, free Palestine.”
Zegler has always been an advocate for the Free Palestine movement, even before the War on Gaza. This highly contrasts Gal Gadot, who is Israeli, a former IDF soldier, and defends Israel’s actions.
According to Variety, producer Marc Platt had flown in from New York to ask Rachel to tone down her posts. “She didn’t understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone,” says one insider.
