Melissa Barrera Comes Out in Support of Rachel Zegler During ‘Snow White’ Controversy
Melissa Barrera has come out in support of Rachel Zegler in the middle of Zegler’s Snow White controversy. Barrera reposted a post about Zegler that read, “Disney is scapegoating Rachel Zegler for the failure of Snow White because she spoke up for Palestinians. She deserves better.”
Barrera shared the slide with a screenshot of a recent Variety article. The text above it reads, “a newly published hit piece in variety magazine attempts to paint Rachel Zegler as difficult and politically radical. it doesn’t. it makes her look cool as hell and full of integrity.”
Zegler has found herself in the middle of a media storm surrounding the release of the Snow White live-action film, even though the movie has been released to mostly good reviews—with her performance being particularly hailed as a highlight. A lot of the negative press has been centered on Zegler’s support for Palestine and her criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump. At one point, Zegler also pointed out that Snow White, which was originally released in 1937, was outdated, and the new version was looking to bring the story to a new generation with new ideas.
There have also been multiple reports of a feud between Zegler and co-star Gal Gadot, who plays the Evil Queen in the film. Gadot, an Israeli actress who served in the IDF and has been vocally pro-Israel, has not faced the same scrutiny as Zegler.
Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in the last two Scream movies, was fired from the franchise for her social media posts in support of Palestine. At the time Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the Scream movies, released a statement regarding Barrera at the time of her firing that read: “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Disney reportedly sent Snow White producer Marc Platt to reprimand Zegler for her pro-Palestine posts, with the producer’s son confirming the story on social media, saying Zegler’s “narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged.”