Jonah Platt, whose father Marc Platt produced the Disney live-action remake, harshly criticized the 23-year-old actress in a lengthy Instagram post—now deleted—calling her immature and narcissistic. His comments came after the film underperformed during its opening week.
At the moment, the movie holds a low 42 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its opening weekend brought in just $87 million, which is a far cry from its massive $270 million production budget. Even after almost a full week in theaters, it has yet to reach the $100 million mark.
His comments came right after a detailed report by Variety revealed that his father, who is now 67, flew all the way to New York to speak with Zegler directly about her controversial posts. These included statements supporting Palestine amid the ongoing conflict with Israel and criticism of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
The tweet that caught everyone’s attention reportedly came right after she posted the official Snow White trailer. Alongside it, she wrote, “And always remember, free Palestine.”
They also accused her of indirectly putting Gal Gadot—who plays the Evil Queen and is originally from Israel—in harm’s way, after the actress received a wave of disturbing death threats online.
“Any words on this? Cuz that’s creepy as hell and uncalled for. People have the right to free speech no? Shame on your father,” they added, which led Jonah to respond with a fiery and emotionally charged rant.
“You really want to do this?” Jonah began.
Jonah, who is also the brother of actor Ben Platt and a co-host of the Being Jewish podcast, didn’t hold back. He firmly believed that Zegler’s comments hurt the film’s overall performance.
“This is called adult responsibility and accountability. And her actions clearly hurt the film’s box office,” he added.
“Tens of thousands of people worked on that film and she hijacked the conversation for her own immature desires at the risk of all the colleagues and crew and blue collar workers who depend on that movie to be successful. Narcissism is not something to be coddled or encouraged.”
The updated version of the classic 1937 animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, directed by Marc Webb, has faced nonstop controversy ever since it was first announced that Zegler would star in the leading role. She has both Colombian and Polish heritage.
At the same time, viewers unhappy with Gal Gadot’s involvement—who previously served in the Israeli Defense Force—also vowed to boycott the film.
On top of that, Disney faced more heat for its decision not to cast actors with dwarfism, sparking backlash from disability advocates and the wider public.
