Ben Shapiro has been mocked for his “bigoted” complaints about Disney’s casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White.
In 2021, it was announced that the West Side Story actor had been cast as the iconic princess in the 2024 live-action adaptation of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.
Following the leak of “misleading” set photos earlier this month, many have criticised the decision to cast Zegler – a Latina woman – in the role, and Shapiro has now shared his own comments.
“Her name is Snow White. Now you may consider that racist, but that’s also the name of the actual fairytale,” the conservative commentator said on his radio show, The Ben Shapiro Show.
Quoting a description from the original 1937 movie, he read: “‘Skin as white as snow.’ That’s literally in her name, that’s why she has her name.”
Shapiro described Zegler, who is of Colombian and American descent, as a “very talented person”, before continuing: “It’s weird casting, you might say. I don’t understand. There are certain parts that are racially specific. I mean very clearly so.”
He argued: “Snow White is maybe the only racially specific white princess because it’s in the name. It’s very strange to me that if you cast Alexander Hamilton as a Black person, that’s totally fine, but if you cast Martin Luther King as a white person, that is totally unacceptable.”
“Maybe you should cast people as like what the description of the part is,” he added. “There are certain parts where the person is described as white, and that’s ok. That’s not the end of the world.”
Shapiro’s comments have since been labelled “bigoted” by many Twitter users, with some pointing out that the character’s ethnicity has nothing to do with the story.
“In the novel the white represents purity, the red represents life and adventure and the black represents death. So that’s not her skin colour. Only in the movie they say her skin colour,” one person noted.
Another wrote: “The white in the name and the story doesn’t have anything to do with skin colour.”
“Phony outrage from right-wing media stars over nonsense is at fever pitch every f’n day to to feed the beast,” added another.
Seeing the flaw in Shapiro’s logic, another Twitter user joked: “Jack Black isn’t black though.”
Jack Black isn’t Black though. – Captain Obvious pic.twitter.com/jTwshKdheP
— 𝕯𝖊𝖑 Ω (@DownWith710) July 17, 2023
The white in the name and the story doesn’t have anything to do with skin colour.
— Christina💙 (@Sen92623293) July 17, 2023
Phony outrage from right wing media stars over nonsense is at fever pitch every f’n day to to feed the beast.🤡
— sidney hunsecker (@SidneyHunsecker) July 17, 2023
Earlier this week, Zegler asked fans not to tag her in the “nonsensical discourse” surrounding the casting backlash.
Taking to Twitter to hit back at the comments, she wrote: “Extremely appreciative of the love I feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting.
“I really, truly do not want to see it. So I leave you w these photos!” she added, sharing photos of her dressed as a princess as a child.
She added: “I hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what.”