(NewsNation) — Rachel Zegler, the star of Disney’s live-action remake of “Snow White,” says the backlash she faced led her to seek mental health support. Zegler has been blamed for “Snow White” having poor box office numbers.
When “Snow White” was released, it brought in $42.2 million, while the film reportedly had a $269 million production budget.
By the time the film left theaters on June 5, it had brought in $205.5 million worldwide. Some critics say that the film didn’t do as well as expected because of Zegler and her outspoken political beliefs, as well as her criticism of the original Disney film.
Rachel Zegler: ‘My psychiatrist has seen me through all of it’
Zegler also told i-D that, when things got particularly bad, she left the city to go to New Jersey, which is where her family lives. She told the outlet, “My f—— psychiatrist has seen me through all of it.”
Her psychiatrist helped her get on anxiety medicine, which she said was “truly a game changer, because I just wasn’t functioning. And I wanted to function in a way that made me feel confident in the way I was moving through the world.”
Rachel Zegler attends the World Premiere of Walt Disney Studios’ “Snow White” at El Capitan Theatre on March 15, 2025 
SEGOVIA, SPAIN – MARCH 12: Rachel Zegler at the European event for Disney’s “Snow White” at Alcazar de Segovia on March 12, 2025 in Segovia, Spain. (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images for Disney) 
FILE – Rachel Zegler attends the “West Side Story” premiere in New York on Nov. 29, 2021. The film is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director and supporting actress for Ariana DeBose. Yet Zegler, the star of the movie musical, will not be attending the ceremony on Sunday. Zegler, the 20-year-old who plays Maria, posted Sunday that she tried to go but “it doesn’t seem to be happening” and that she be rooting for “West Side Story” from her couch. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 15: Rachel Zegler attends the World Premiere of Walt Disney Studios’ “Snow White” at El Capitan Theatre on March 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) 
SEGOVIA, SPAIN – MARCH 12: Rachel Zegler at the European event for Disney’s “Snow White” at Alcazar de Segovia on March 12, 2025 in Segovia, Spain. (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images for Disney) 
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 09: (L-R) Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler speak onstage D23 Expo 2022 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on September 09, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Despite being blamed for the box office failure, Zegler doesn’t see herself as the victim.
She said, “I think a victim mindset is a choice, and I don’t choose it. I also don’t choose nastiness in the face of it. I don’t choose negativity in the face of it. I choose positivity, and light, and happiness. And I do believe at times, happiness is absolutely a choice, and every day I wake up, and I think I’m very lucky to live the life I live.”
Rachel Zegler criticizes original ‘Snow White’
Zegler told “Extra” in 2022 that the original, animated version of “Snow White” was “extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power and what a woman’s fit for in the world… There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn’t do that this time…”
Her comments offended some Disney fans, but Zegler called out people who were upset, saying that they were “losers obsessed with maintaining the bloodline purity of cartoon princesses.”
Despite this, “Snow White” recently premiered on the streaming service Disney+ and did extremely well. FlixPatrol and Disney+ put the film as the service’s No. 1 movie in the United States when it dropped on June 11. As of June 25, FlixPatrol still lists the film as No. 1 on Disney+.
Zegler is currently in London playing Eva Perón in the new production of “Evita.”
Rachel Zegler: ‘Always remember, free Palestine’
Zegler has also faced backlash for publicly supporting Palestine and the ceasefire. On the day of the “Snow White” trailer release, Zegler posted on X, saying, “and always remember, free Palestine.” Variety reported that the film’s producer, Marc Platt, was sent from Los Angeles to New York by Disney to ask her to delete the post.
Platt’s son, Jonah, confirmed this online, saying, “Yeah, my dad, the producer of enormous piece of Disney IP with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, had to leave his family… to reprimand his 20-year-old employee for dragging her personal politics into the middle of promoting the movie… Her actions clearly hurt the film’s box office.”
In an interview with i-D, Zegler said, “There are obviously things that are at stake by being outspoken, but nothing is worth innocent lives. My heart doesn’t have a fence around it, and if that is considered my downfall? There are worse things.”