Actress Rachel Zegler, who stars in the upcoming live action "Snow White," has been dubbed a "fake feminist" by social media users after videos surfaced online of her denigrating the 1937 animated version of the movie.
Zegler, 22, said that, in her version, Snow White is "not going to be saved by the prince," whom she called a "stalker," and is "not going to be dreaming about true love."
In one TikTok video posted last week, user Angie railed against Zegler's comments that seemed to suggest it's anti-feminist to fall in love as Snow White does in the original movie.
"Just because a woman values something different, does not make her any less valuable," Angie captioned the video. "Some women want a career and not marriage. Some women want a marriage or family and not a job. Some women want BOTH. All are to be heard, and seen, and valued. Write stories about ALL women and depict them ALL as valuable and worthy, instead of trying to mold them into one specific image of what you deem worthy. Thank you."
Angie's video, which has been viewed more than 9.6 million times, began with a clip of Zegler's interview with Variety at the Disney D23 Expo in California last September, where the actress gave some insight into the modern take on the classic story.
"I just mean that it's no longer 1937," Zegler said laughingly. "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 be," she added.
The video then cut to Angie, as she shared her thoughts on "the pseudo-feminism that is criticizing Disney princesses."
"Criticizing Disney princesses is not feminist," she said. "Not every woman is a leader, not every woman wants to be a leader, not every woman wants or craves power, and that's OK."
"It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, to want to get married, to want to stay at home, to want to be a homemaker," she continued. "None of these things make you less valuable as a person or a woman."
A number of other TikTok users reportedly followed Angie's lead and posted their own videos questioning Zegler's comments.
Speaking with Extra at the Disney expo, Zegler said that the animated version of "Snow White" was clearly a product of its times.
"The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so," she said. "There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So, we didn't do that this time."
In a separate interview alongside Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen in the film, Zegler said that she was "scared" of the original version of the movie.
"I think I watched it once and then I never picked it up again," she said. "I'm being so serious."
"I watched it once, and then I went on the ride at Disney World, which was called Snow White's Scary Adventures," she continued. "Doesn't sound like something a little kid would like. I was terrified of it, never revisited 'Snow White' again."
One TikTok user shared video of Zegler on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" from March where she said she gets stopped by fans for photos "every time I'm in line for the Snow White ride." The poster accused the actress of "contradicting herself" because of her previous comments about being "terrified" of the ride.
"Gurl is gaslighting rn," the user captioned the video.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Hannah Emme said, "sorry can rachel zegler and the rest of fake feminists stfu?"
Zegler seemingly responded to the backlash on Friday, posting on her X account, "i hope the world becomes kinder."
"i love you very much," she added a few hours later. "forever and ever. remember to be kind. treat each other with patience and empathy. remember that you are loved unconditionally, no matter your mistakes, no matter your misunderstandings. you deserve it. you deserve love. you deserve to live without fear."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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