‘Wasn’t functioning’: Rachel Zegler reveals sad fallout of Snow White controversy

Snow White’s Rachel Zegler has broken her silence over the brutal backlash she faced after the film became the year’s biggest bomb.

Even Snow White needs a shrink.

Rachel Zegler has revealed that therapy and anxiety medication helped her overcome the monumental backlash she received while starring in Disney’s live-action Snow White remake.

The 24-year-old actress opened up about the controversy and how she moved past it in an interview with i-D magazine published on Monday, June 23.

“My f–king psychiatrist has seen me through all of it,” Zegler explained, noting that her medical doctor constantly reminded her that “what you’re going through isn’t normal.”

“That sentence did such wonders for me in multiple situations in my life,” she said.

The actress also revealed that she started taking anxiety medication.

Zegler said the decision 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.”

Disney's Snow White the movie with Rachel Zegler, Movie stills

Besides her psychiatrist and anxiety meds, the West Side Story star also cited her “mindset” as one of the things that helped her overcome the backlash she received.

“I think a victim mindset is a choice, and I don’t choose it,” she explained. “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,” Zegler continued. “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.”

It was first announced that Zegler had been cast as the titular Disney princess in the live-action Snow White remake in 2022.

The young actress, who has Colombian and Polish roots, faced backlash from fans after the casting announcement.

She faced further backlash later that year when she described the original 1937 movie as “dated” and claimed that Prince Charming “literally stalks” Snow White.

In 2024, Zegler was forced to apologise after she wrote an anti-Donald Trump post on social media. Angry Disney fans threatened to boycott Snow White if the actress was not replaced.

Members of the public watch Rachel Zegler perform.

“I let my emotions get the best of me,” Zegler wrote on Instagram after that backlash. “Hatred and anger have caused us to move further and further away from peace and understanding, and I am sorry I contributed to the negative discourse.”

Zegler and her Snow White co-star, Gal Gadot, also allegedly butted heads over their differences regarding the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza.

Although the live-action “Snow White” remake finally hit theatres in March 2025, it received poor reviews and bombed at the box office.

Despite the film’s poor performance, Zegler took to Instagram after its weekend premiere to celebrate it being “#1 movie in the world.”

She is currently starring as Eva Perón in Jamie Lloyd’s revival of the 1978 musical Evita in London’s West End – but not even her performance in that project is without its problems.

Last week, Zegler faced scrutiny for performing the musical’s most popular number outside on a balcony as paying fans sat inside the London Palladium and were forced to watch the iconic scene via livestream.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and is republished here with permission