Rachel Zegler, the 24-year-old Golden Globe-winning actress who skyrocketed to fame with West Side Story, has been no stranger to controversy in recent years. But on May 10, 2025, just days after the Mother’s Day weekend re-release of Disney’s live-action Snow White earned a dismal $335,000 despite playing in over 1,200 theaters, Zegler hit a breaking point. In an explosive Instagram Live session that quickly went viral, the actress “officially lost it,” lashing out at fans who had called her out for her role in Snow White’s failure and her polarizing public statements. The emotional outburst, which saw Zegler tearfully defend herself while firing back at her critics, has reignited debates about her career, her relationship with Disney, and the intense scrutiny faced by young women in Hollywood. As of May 13, 2025, the fallout from Zegler’s IG Live meltdown continues to dominate headlines, leaving fans and industry insiders divided on what this means for her future.
The backdrop to Zegler’s outburst is the catastrophic performance of Snow White, a $270 million live-action remake that was meant to be a cornerstone of Disney’s reimagined classics. Released on March 21, 2025, the film opened to a modest $42.2 million domestically, dropping a staggering 66% in its second weekend to $14.3 million. By early May, it had grossed just $225 million worldwide, far short of the $625 million needed to break even, resulting in a $115 million loss for Disney. The film was plagued by controversies from the start: Zegler’s casting as a Latina actress in a role traditionally depicted as pale-skinned drew racist backlash, her 2022 comments calling the 1937 original “dated” and its prince a “stalker” alienated fans, and her political statements—particularly a viral X post in August 2024 saying “and always remember, free Palestine”—sparked boycotts and a ban in Lebanon. The decision to use CGI for the dwarfs, following criticism from Peter Dinklage, was panned as “lifeless,” contributing to a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score and a review-bombed 1.6/10 IMDb rating.
Zegler has been the lightning rod for much of the criticism surrounding Snow White. Fans and conservative commentators alike have blamed her for the film’s failure, pointing to her outspokenness as a liability. Jonah Platt, son of Snow White producer Marc Platt, publicly called her “narcissistic” in a since-deleted post, claiming her actions “clearly hurt the film’s box office.” Her post-election outburst in November 2024, where she wrote on Instagram that Trump supporters should “never know peace,” further fueled the fire, prompting a corporate-style apology that sources say was written by Disney PR. On social media, users like @GaMtnChief on X declared, “Go Woke go Broke!” while others speculated that Disney had blacklisted her from future projects, including a rumored Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. The Mother’s Day re-release, intended to salvage the film, only added insult to injury, averaging a mere $252 per screen and drawing scathing comments online about Zegler’s inability to draw an audience.
It was against this backdrop of mounting criticism that Zegler took to Instagram Live on May 10, 2025. The session began innocently enough, with Zegler addressing her 2.5 million followers from her New York apartment, where she’s been preparing for her upcoming role as Eva Perón in the West End’s Evita, set to open on July 1. Dressed casually in a sweatshirt and with her dog Lenny by her side, she initially spoke about her gratitude for her Broadway run in Romeo + Juliet alongside Kit Connor, which concluded in February 2025. But the tone shifted when she began reading comments from viewers, many of whom called her out for Snow White’s failure and accused her of ruining the beloved classic.
“I can’t believe you’re still defending yourself after Snow White flopped so hard,” one commenter wrote. “You disrespected the original and now look what happened,” another added. As the negative comments poured in, Zegler’s composure began to crack. “I’m so tired of this,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’ve been called every name in the book—racist slurs, a narcissist, a failure—and I’ve taken it all because I thought I could handle it. But I can’t anymore. You think I wanted Snow White to fail? You think I wanted this hate?” Tears streamed down her face as she continued, “I poured my heart into that role. I believed in the story we were telling—a Snow White who dreams of being a leader, not just a princess waiting for a prince. But all you see is someone to blame.”
Zegler’s outburst escalated as she addressed specific criticisms. “You call me ‘woke’ like it’s an insult,” she said, her voice rising. “I’m proud to stand up for what I believe in. I’m proud to be Latina, to be pro-Palestine, to speak out against hate. If that makes you hate me, then fine—hate me! But don’t act like I’m the only reason Snow White didn’t work. Where’s the blame for Disney? For the CGI that everyone hated? For the fact that they didn’t protect me from the death threats and harassment?” She referenced the reported spike in death threats against her co-star Gal Gadot, which forced Disney to beef up security, and the studio’s decision to hire a social media guru to vet her posts after her political statements—a move she called “humiliating.”
The IG Live session, which lasted nearly 30 minutes, quickly went viral, racking up over 10 million views within 24 hours. Clips of Zegler’s tearful rant spread across X, TikTok, and YouTube, sparking a polarized response. Her supporters rallied behind her, launching the hashtag #StandWithRachel, which trended with over 70,000 posts by May 12, 2025. “Rachel Zegler is a 24-year-old woman who’s been put through hell for doing her job,” one fan wrote. “Disney failed her, not the other way around.” Others praised her vulnerability, with a user commenting, “Seeing Rachel break down like that broke my heart. She’s human, and she’s been carrying so much hate.” Critics, however, were less sympathetic. “Rachel Zegler needs to grow up,” one X user wrote. “She can’t handle criticism and now she’s playing the victim again.” Another added, “If she can’t take the heat, maybe she shouldn’t be in Hollywood.”
Disney has remained conspicuously silent on Zegler’s outburst, a stark contrast to its previous interventions, such as forcing her to issue an apology after her Trump comments in November 2024. Sources close to the studio suggest that Disney is eager to move on from the Snow White saga, especially after shelving its planned Tangled remake and facing scrutiny over upcoming projects like Lilo & Stitch, set for May 23, 2025. “Disney is done with Rachel,” an insider told a tabloid. “They see her as a liability now, and they’re focusing on damage control for their next releases.” The studio’s silence has only fueled speculation that Zegler may indeed be blacklisted, though her upcoming projects—Evita and the comedy-drama She Gets It From Me with Marisa Tomei—suggest she’s far from finished in the industry.
Industry reactions have been mixed. Some, like film critic Kelechi Ehenulo, who previously called Zegler a “victim of culture wars,” argue that she’s been unfairly targeted as a young Latina actress in a high-profile role. “Actors from underrepresented backgrounds often become targets for backlash,” Ehenulo told BBC News in March 2025, a sentiment that resonates with Zegler’s IG Live comments about facing racist harassment. Others, however, believe Zegler’s outburst may have damaged her career further. “She’s burning bridges at a time when she needs allies,” an industry insider told Variety. “Disney isn’t going to take kindly to being called out like that, and other studios might think twice before casting her in a big-budget project.”
For Zegler, the IG Live meltdown may mark a turning point. Her emotional vulnerability has humanized her to many fans, but it’s also highlighted the toll that years of scrutiny have taken. As she prepares for Evita and her next film, she faces a choice: continue engaging with her critics, risking further backlash, or step back and let her work speak for itself. Her recent Instagram activity—a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” and cryptic captions about “moving forward”—suggests she’s choosing the latter. But in an industry that thrives on drama, Zegler’s outburst has ensured that her name will remain in the headlines, for better or worse. As the dust settles, one thing is clear: Rachel Zegler’s journey in Hollywood is far from over, and her fiery IG Live session may just be the spark she needs to redefine her narrative on her own terms.
