Woke Rachel Zegler makes new career move after humiliating Snow White box office bomb

Woke Rachel Zegler is turning the page after facing a firestorm of backlash over Disney’s Snow White reboot.

The 23-year-old actress, who led the beleaguered $270 million remake of the 1937 animated classic, has been at the center of controversy for months. 

From sparking outrage over her criticism of the original’s 'sexist' romantic plotline to refusing to sing its signature ballad Someday My Prince Will Come, Zegler quickly became a lightning rod for online ire.

She was also blamed by some fans for the wave of death threats reportedly directed at her Israeli co-star Gal Gadot — further fueling the uproar. 

The drama peaked last weekend as Snow White underperformed with just $43 million in domestic sales, matched by scathing reviews from critics. 

Now, in what appears to be a pivot toward safer creative ground, West Side Story breakout Zegler is revisiting her musical roots with a new single: a cover of Who I’d Be from Shrek the Musical.

The song is featured on MCC Theater's Studio Sessions album, which includes performances from other musical stars like Jonathan Groff and Ben Platt.

Speaking of Ben, his brother Jonah Platt—son of film producer Marc Platt—launched an explosive tirade against Zegler on Wednesday. 

The 38-year-old, who is Marc's eldest child, took to Instagram in a now-deleted post to brand Zegler as 'immature' and insinuate she has 'narcissistic' tendencies.

In the wake of an article published by Variety on Tuesday, which stated that Marc had flown to New York to speak to the actress about her controversial social media posts, one fan left a comment on Jonah's Instagram.

It read: 'Your dad flew to NYC to reprimand a young actress?' 

'Any words on this? Cuz that's creepy as hell and uncalled for. People have the right to free speech no? Shame on your father.'

Jonah shot back with an angry rant which began: 'You really want to do this?'

'Yeah, my dad, the producer of the enormous piece of Disney IP with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, had to leave his family to fly across the country to reprimand his 20-year-old employee for dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting the movie for which she signed a multi-million dollar contract to get paid and do publicly for.' 

The host of the Being Jewish Podcast continued, saying her actions 'clearly' hurt the film's box office. 

'Free speech does not mean you're allowed to say whatever you want in your private employment without repercussions,' he continued.

'Tens of thousands of people worked on that film and she hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of the colleagues and crew and blue collar workers who depend on that movie to be successful.'

'Narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged,' Jonah concluded his explosive rant.

Jonah has since been slammed for his response online by many users who then commented on the heated exchange.

'"Had to leave his family" is a crazy thing to say about a 67-year-old billionaire with adult children,' one user wrote.

'Momma Platt holding 38-year-old Jonah and 31-year-old Ben in her arms: "You're going to see HER again aren't you, while I'm here raising our babies,"' joked another.

'Jonah Platt is damn near 40 and popping veins over a girl born in 2001 in Instagram comments…' said another.

Someone else wrote: 'Jonah Platt has no idea how films work. Box office has no effect on "blue collar workers" who worked on this film. They were already paid!'

Zegler has sparked backlash with a series of controversial tweets in recent months.

In August, she took to X, formerly known as Twitter, with a post that had initially thanked fans for their support over Snow White.

She wrote: '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.' 

But, just one minute later, she showed her support for Palestine amid the war in Gaza in the same thread, adding: 'And always remember, free Palestine.'

The Variety article detailed how, in light of this, an executive raised the studio's concerns about the post with Zegler's team, and Marc, the film's producer, flew to New York to speak with the actress, who refused to take the post down.

He also suggested she work with a social media expert after she also posted 'F**k Donald Trump' and 'May Trump supporters... never know peace' following the 2024 presidential election. 

The New York Times reported last week that Platt had to remind her how much was at stake with the movie and her career before asking her to 'post heedfully.'

One insider told Variety: 'She didn't understand the repercussions of her actions as far as what that meant for the film, for Gal, for anyone.' 

The film was also plagued with other controversies outside of Zegler's comments, amid accusations of a 'woke' clean-up job to remove dated cultural references and stereotypes.

Dwarf actors including Peter Dinklage and Jason Acuna - better known as 'Wee Man' in MTV prank series Jackass - criticized the decision not to hire actors with dwarfism to play Doc, Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy and Sleepy.

However, Disney executives will be wincing at the film's worldwide box office weekend takings - the most important figures for any new film, at the point of maximum audience interest.

While it topped the charts, the film took $87 million worldwide against a budget of $270 million - including reshoots, but excluding marketing - with top brass at Disney now evaluating what went wrong. The film is also being review-bombed on IMDb.