Scream franchise's ex-star Melissa Barrera backs Rachel Zegler as Snow White controversies intensify

Disney's Snow White has been riddled with controversies over the last few months. It may have impacted its box office performance since it has earned less than expectations. Its opening weekend collection at the domestic box office was still higher than Mufasa: The Lion King, which went on to earn far more to become the sixth-highest-grossing movie of 2024. It might not be possible for Snow White in the coming weeks.

There are many reasons behind this potential failure of Disney's live-action remake. A key reason is the negative critical reception. However, without acknowledging these negative reviews of the movie, many media platforms are blaming star Rachel Zegler for its financial woes. So, a social media user recently shared a long post, citing the West Side Story star being scapegoated for the box office failure—despite the reviews praising her performance.

The post mentions Rachel Zegler's pro-Palestine stance being the reason behind the pieces written against her. Scream VI star Melissa Barrera shared their post in their story, which also included a part from a Variety article. Previously, Barrera was removed from the upcoming Scream franchise project for her pro-Palestine stance.

Since the film started failing at the box office, its failure is being attributed to the "anti-woke" backlash. However, the reality of ticket sales is different according to the box office analyses received by Business Insider and The Hollywood Reporter.

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Scream VI star Melisa Barrera backs Snow White star Rachel Zegler against the backlash for her social media comments

Snow White star Rachel Zegler previously pointed out her concerns related to the fictional fairy tale her movie is based on. As a result, she received a lot of backlash. A section of the audience was also not in favor of casting Zegler in this role, which led to racist remarks against her. Her pro-Palestine stance was also met with a backlash.

David A. Gross from FranchiseRe shared an opposite response based on the research from his box office intelligence firm. He told Business Insider.

"I don't think everybody just said, 'It's woke, let's not go, I just think it is a little bit confusing; it's cross-signals. I think a lot of it goes back to the film — the reviews are not good."

Steve Buck from EnTelligence also shared his research of ticket sales patterns from red and blue states in the USA. He told The Hollywood Reporter,

“In spite of prerelease concerns of a boycott in red-leaning districts, there is no evidence to support that occurred."

In contrast, the comments on the aforementioned social media post note Zegler's co-star being the reason for a reported boycott.