Rachel Zegler Has No Time For Racists Angry Over Her 'Snow White' Role

By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN

(CNN) — Rachel Zegler is, yet again, addressing criticism related to casting decisions on Disney Studios’ upcoming live-action remake of its 1937 animated classic “Snow White,” in which she stars as the titular heroine.

“Extremely appreciative of the love I feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting,” Zegler wrote on her Twitter page on Friday, adding, “I really, truly do not want to see it.”

Since Zegler’s casting was announced in 2021, the “West Side Story” actor has faced racist remarks from internet users who questioned why an actress of Latin descent is playing a character celebrated for having “skin as white as snow.”

She previously responded to the initial criticism when she appeared on Variety’s Actors on Actors series in 2022, saying, “At one point, you just have to shut it all off and think, if I’m not going to read the bad, I’m just not going to read the good either.”

“I’m just going to believe in what I believe in,” she added.

This most recent “Snow White”-related “discourse” came after photos from the film’s UK set leaked on Friday, revealing the seven actors who appear to be playing Disney’s updated representation of the “seven dwarfs.”

The Mouse House reportedly confirmed that while the studio did not officially release the leaked photos on Friday, that they are indeed from the set.

The photos subsequently sparked more criticism on social media from people upset with the diverse casting, including Zegler’s, and the departure from the story’s classic canon.

Disney said in a statement last year that the film intends to take “a different approach with these seven characters” in order “to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film.” That different approach is reflected, at least partially, in the decision to shorten the title of the new live-action film to simply “Snow White,” as seen in promotional posters.

The Disney statement was released in response to “Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage saying at the time that “Snow White” is a “f–ing backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together” and that it should be updated – beyond casting a Latin actress as the lead – while appearing on a 2022 episode of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast.

Zegler’s tweet on Friday ended with an aspirational message alongside four adorable photos of herself as a child dressed up as Disney princesses – including one in which she donned the unmistakable costume of Snow White.

“I hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what,” she wrote.

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