LOS ANGELES, CA—Gal Gadot, 40, stunned fans in a viral Israeli interview, blaming Disney’s Snow White box office flop on anti-Israel sentiment post-October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The Gal-Gadot-Snow-White-flop narrative sparked heated debate.
“I thought it’d be a smash hit,” said Gadot, who played the Evil Queen. “But the Gaza war shifted views, and Hollywood pressures celebs to bash Israel.” She felt judged as “an Israeli, not an actress.” For more on film controversies, visit Variety.
Co-star Rachel Zegler’s “Free Palestine” post and Trump voter jab fueled backlash, as did her casting, which clashed with the Grimm tale’s Snow White description. Producer Marc Platt’s son, Jonah, revealed Platt confronted Zegler over her politics.
Disney’s dwarf controversy—scrapping little people after Peter Dinklage’s critique, then using CGI—added woes. Rumors of a Gadot-Zegler feud surfaced, but Gadot denied it, saying, “I enjoyed working with Rachel.”
Gadot later clarified on Instagram: “The flop wasn’t just politics—many factors tanked it.” Snow White’s $270M budget yielded just $43M opening weekend, losing over $115M, per Forbes. Delays from COVID, a set fire, and 2023 strikes forced costly reshoots.
Analyst Lisa Hart noted, “It’s a perfect storm of bad timing and bad choices.” Learn about box office disasters at The Hollywood Reporter. At press time, Snow White remained a Disney debacle.