Things have gone from bad to worse for Disney, as the son of a producer on the Snow White movie has publicly blasted Rachel Zegler and blamed the actress for the film’s poor box office performance.
What happened?
Variety recently reported that Disney producer Marc Platt—at the request of Disney—flew to New York City in August to meet with Rachel Zegler and asked her to remove a “Free Palestine” comment she posted on social media with the release of the Snow White trailer.
Platt then had to make the case again to Zegler following her negative comments about President Donald Trump and his supporters.
As a result of her posts, Disney was forced to hire additional security to protect Gal Gadot and her four children, as it is claimed that threats against Gadot, an Israeli, spiked after Zegler’s posts. Following Zegler’s comments about Trump, Disney also hired a social media guru, and Zegler agreed to vet any posts before the film’s official release.
Fan hunts down Disney producer’s son
Following the article’s publication, Zegler stans found Jonah Platt on Instagram and slammed his father, Marc Platt, calling him “creepy as hell” and saying his attempts to control Zegler’s social media were “uncalled for.”
Jonah Platt responds
Jonah Platt, who hosts the Being Jewish podcast, replied in the now-deleted comment, “You really want to do this? Yeah, my dad, the producer of 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 publicity for.”
He continued: “This is called adult responsibility and accountability. And 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. Tens of thousands of people worked on that film and she hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of all 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.”
Marc Platt is a well-known producer in Hollywood, having produced films such as Wicked, The Little Mermaid, Cruella, Aladdin, La La Land, Scott Pilgrim, Legally Blonde, and more.
Snow White bombs
Snow White premiered last weekend and bombed at the box office. The film brought in less than the estimates and wasn’t well received by either the critics or the fans. A recent report has claimed Snow White could lose Disney upwards of $200 million.
The film current has a Rotten Tomatoes Score from critics at 42%, with the fan score at 74%. The CinemaScore is a B+, and the IMDb rating is only at 1.7.
The budget is reported to be close to $400 million following rewrites, reshoots and marketing. Snow White debuted to less than $100 million worldwide and only $42.2 million in the U.S.
