Rachel Zegler doesn't want to be part of 'nonsensical discourse' over Snow White casting

Rachel Zegler is not interested in the "nonsensical discourse" about her casting as Snow White in Disney's upcoming live-action remake.

Over the weekend, the West Side Story actress took to social media to say she has no interest in seeing or engaging with the conversations, many of which perpetuate the racist backlash from when her casting was announced more than a year ago.

"[E]xtremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don't tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting," she wrote on Twitter. "[I] really, truly do not want to see it."

Zegler accompanied the message with photos of herself dressed as Disney princesses when she was a child. One of the photos features her dressed as Snow White. "[S]o i leave you w these photos! i hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what," she wrote.

Her post elicited a response from Halle Bailey, who played Ariel in Disney's recent live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Bailey also faced racist backlash to her casting.

"[W]e love you so much truly the perfect princess," Bailey wrote in a quote tweet of Zegler's photos.

"Never in a million years did I imagine that this would be a possibility for me," Zegler told Variety in 2022. "You don't normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent. Even though Snow White is really a big deal in Spanish-speaking countries. Blanca Nieves is a huge icon whether you're talking about the Disney cartoon or just different iterations and the Grimm fairy tale and all the stories that come with it. But you don't particularly see people who look like me or are me playing roles like that."

Snow White has a planned release date of March 22, 2024, though all film release dates come with an asterisk right now as both Hollywood writers and actors are on strike.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content

• Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, and Rachel Zegler join Paddington in Peru cast

• West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler to star in Hunger Games prequel

• The Hunger Games return! Viola Davis, peter Dinklage arrive in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes trailer