Disney is reportedly scaling back the Hollywood premiere for its live-action adaptation of Snow White amid controversies surrounding the film’s two lead stars, Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot.
According to Variety, the premiere, which is slated for March 15, will only include a pre-party and screening at the El Capitan Theatre with coverage being exclusively limited to photographers and a house crew.
Typically, Disney invites dozens of media outlets to cover its red carpet events, but seems to be refraining from doing so for Snow White.
The Walt Disney Company did not immediately reply to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The last live-action iteration of a Disney princess film, 2023’s Little Mermaid, saw the studio pull out all the stops for its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre with a themed ocean-blue carpet and a horde of A-list attendees marking the occasion.
The shift in planning for Snow White seems to come on the heels of several controversies that have shrouded the film since its production.
For one, Zegler faced questionable backlash from toxic Disney fans who questioned her casting in the titular role over her Latin heritage. The West Side Story star also faced scrutiny over comments she made in 2022 to ExtraTV about the original 1937 animated film being “dated” because the prince “literally stalks Snow White.”
“She’s not going to be saved by the prince. She’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” Zegler added in a 2022 interview with Variety. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.”
Meanwhile, the internet has not been oblivious to the fact that Zegler, who has posted pro-Palestinian content, is starring alongside Gadot, who is Israeli. While the actresses have not directly addressed the issue, viewers were quick to point out the seemingly strained relationship between the pair as they presented the gong for Best Visual Effects at the 2025 Academy Awards.
The film has also faced major controversy regarding its portrayal of little people, with Peter Dinklage–who has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia–notably slamming the film for its handling of the original’s source material.
“Literally no offense to anything, but I was sort of taken aback,” Dinklage said on the WTF With Mark Maron podcast in Jan. 2022. “They were very proud to cast a Latino actress as Snow White, but you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there.”
At the time, Disney responded in a statement saying, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community.”
The studio has since unveiled what Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, and Dopey will look like in the film, opting to animate the seven characters through computer-generated imagery (CGI) rather than hire actors to play them. Disney also says the characters, who retain the same names as those in the original film, will instead be referred to as “magical creatures.”
Snow White is slated to release in theaters on March 21.
