Disney's Dopey Decision

On a bustling Hollywood Boulevard, celebrities will gather tonight for a glitzy red carpet premiere at the historic El Capitan Theatre. While photographers will line up to snap pictures of the stars making their journey down the carpet in shimmering gowns, behind the rope line the regular array of press will not be present to interview the cast and filmmakers.

The strange scene is set to take place at the premiere of Disney’s “Snow White,” a high-stakes reboot of the iconic film that the studio reportedly spent some $270 million on production alone. But the film has been plagued by controversies and became the uncomfortable target of right-wing attacks almost since its inception.

The original “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” that debuted in 1937 as Walt Disney’s first full length feature became one of the 10 biggest films of all time accounting for inflation, catapulting Disney to become a cultural and creative force. So it was no wonder Burbank would try to recreate that magic with a high-budget live-action adaption for modern families.

But the trouble started immediately after the studio announced Rachel Zegler, a 23-year-old of mixed ethnicity, would play the titular role of Snow White alongside outspoken Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. Right-wing media personalities disparaged Zegler as a “woke” Disney princess over her skin color, igniting fury over her Colombian and Polish descent. For her part, Zegler later drew heat after she called the original “Snow White” film “extremely dated when it comes to the idea of women in roles of power” and branded Prince Charming a stalker.

The drama didn’t stop there. Actor Peter Dinklage hammered Disney for recreating stereotypical depictions in the movie, calling it a “fucking backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.” And as the devastating war in Gaza dragged on, Zegler, who calls herself pro-Palestine, and Gadot, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, were outspoken in their views of the conflict, providing endless tabloid fodder.

Meanwhile, right-wing media figures continued to savage the film online.

“Disney’s Snow White Is A Feminist Dumpster Fire, And Here’s The Proof,” the venomous Daily Wire host Matt Walsh posted on YouTube.

“Disney is on a ‘woke path to ruin.' Even ‘Snow White’ actress hates her own story,” a Fox News opinion headline declared.

After Trump recaptured the White House in November, Zegler stirred the hornets’ nest once again, writing on Instagram, “May Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace… Fuck Donald Trump.” She later offered an apology, writing that she let her emotions get the best of her.

Disney, for its part, remained silent on the matter, clearly hoping to avoid inflaming the situation further and provoking further right-wing outrage. But studio executives were quietly making moves of their own that signaled they were walking away from “Snow White” in the face of right-wing fury. The entertainment giant curiously withheld presale tickets for the big budget film until just 11 days before its release, and it skipped a big European premiere for a small affair at a remote Spanish castle where the BBC reported “most media outlets were not invited.”

Then this week, in the final run up to the film's March 21 theatrical release, it announced it would banish the press from the Hollywood red carpet, allowing only “photographers and a house crew” in a move apparently designed to minimize any excitement or unintentional interactions.

At the heart of the stunning decision appears to be Disney boss Bob Iger’s determination to avoid the wrath of Trump and the MAGA movement, which has put the entertainment giant in their crosshairs, rather than standing by the company’s creatives. In December, Disney-owned ABC News also shocked the industry when it settled a lawsuit with Trump for $16 million that many believed was a winnable case but backed down to curry favor with the incoming president.

While Iger was critical of former Disney chief Bob Chapek’s muted approach to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the company’s decision under Iger to scale back publicity for the film amounts to a buckling under sustained right-wing pressure. At least one member of the “Snow White” cast seems to agree.

“There’s not going to be this whole hoopla of, ‘Disney’s first fucking movie they ever made,’” Martin Klebba, who voices the Grumpy character in the new film, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. “Because of all this controversy, they’re afraid of the blowback from different people in society.”

In trying to sidestep the controversy, Disney has sent a clear message: when faced with right-wing outrage, the path of least resistance is to retreat rather than stand firm. But history has shown that caving to these pressures rarely quells the outrage machine—it often only emboldens it. In the Trump era, where every cultural moment is a front in the sprawling information wars, companies like Disney face an impossible task if they try to remain neutral.

Playing defense doesn’t stop the attacks; it only weakens a brand’s credibility with the very audiences they claim to serve. Rather than trying to appease bad-faith, reactionary forces that will ultimately never be satisfied, Disney—and other companies caught in the crosshairs—might consider that standing by their creative choices and talent is not just the right thing to do, but ultimately the smarter business move.

“Snow White” is now tracking toward a $50 million opening weekend, putting it well below other Disney live-action remakes, and suggesting that the film may ultimately be destined for failure.

But as the reboot of the legendary film careens toward theaters, it appears Iger and Disney are content with its demise to avoid provoking Trump and his MAGA Media allies, a decision almost as devious as something the Evil Queen would dream up.