The New Arab website reported Sunday that a number of Arab organizations have renewed calls for a boycott of the Disney live-action Snow White movie, which opened around the world last week, because Israeli actress Gal Gadot has a major role.
Gadot, best known for playing Wonder Woman, another movie that was boycotted in some Arab countries, portrays the Evil Queen in the retelling of the fairytale, opposite Rachel Zegler, who plays the title role.
There were rumors that the two actresses clashed doing publicity for the movie because Gadot has been outspoken in her support for the release of hostages held by Hamas and her criticism of the terror group for the October 7 massacre, while Zegler has voiced support for pro-Palestinian causes on her social media.
Although the two have been cordial in public appearances, the Los Angeles of premiere of the film was reportedly scaled down from the usual Hollywood hoopla, with only a handful of journalists allowed to attend.
The New Arab wrote that the boycott campaign comes as critics accuse Disney of “enabling the whitewashing of Israeli occupation through Gadot’s prominent role as the film's Evil Queen.”
According to the website, activists have called on movie theaters in Arab countries not to show the film and have promoted hashtags that include #BoycottSnowWhite, #BoycottGalGadot, and #SnowWhiteWithOccupationFlavour.
Groups from several countries are supporting the boycott, including from Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Egypt.
In a joint statement, the various groups wrote, "Gal Gadot does not represent art - she represents occupation, violence, and a military force that continues to commit atrocities against Palestinians. Allowing her to star in Snow White is an attempt to sanitize her image and distract from her unwavering support for Israeli aggression."
While groups in these countries pushed for a boycott, the movie took in $87.3 million around the world, according to Deadline.com. While this was lower than Disney had projected, it doesn’t seem likely that this campaign had much impact.
Negative reviews and poor box-office performance
The movie received quite a few negative reviews, and its box-office revenues may have suffered due to controversies that were not related to Gadot, such as whether the portrayal of the seven dwarfs was offensive and if the studio had remade the film so that political correctness diminished its quality.
Gadot was the recipient of one of Hollywood’s biggest honors last week when she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Although the ceremony unveiling her star was briefly disrupted by protesters, the actress was upbeat, saying, “I’m just a girl from a town in Israel… To all the young women out there, the young people, especially young girls watching, if a girl from Rosh Ha’ayin can get a star at the Hollywood Boulevard, anything is possible.”
Gadot isn’t the first major actress to be the subject of calls for a boycott from Arab countries.
Egypt banned Elizabeth Taylor, a convert to Judaism, from shooting scenes for Cleopatra there in the early 1960s, because she had contributed to charities in Israel, and also banned her movies.
The films of another convert, Marilyn Monroe, were also banned in Egypt. So Gadot is in good company, both with her Hollywood Walk of Fame star and the boycott calls.