Rachel Zegler arrived at the 2025 Met Gala in an eye-catching white gown, but it was a brief, repeated jaw movement on the red carpet that exploded across social media within hours. The clip of the 25-year-old actress was viewed tens of millions of times across platforms, with users analyzing and mocking the gesture frame by frame. While the same night featured Beyoncé’s return to the event, Blake Lively in vintage Versace, and Katy Perry’s chrome mask, those moments faded quickly from the public conversation. Zegler’s jaw moment did not.
The dress itself, designed by Prabal Gurung, featured an off-the-shoulder silhouette, lace details, and a long train. A thin silk blindfold covered the actress’s eyes. The outfit was inspired by the 1833 painting *The Execution of Lady Jane Grey*, which depicts the young queen awaiting her execution. Online commentators quickly read the look as Zegler casting herself as a martyr, an innocent figure being punished by Hollywood and the public.
While that interpretation remains a matter of opinion, it became the dominant narrative and fueled further ridicule. The intense backlash did not occur in a vacuum. It was the product of years of accumulated frustration among viewers, much of it stemming from her time promoting Disney’s live-action *Snow White*. In 2022, during interviews for the film, Zegler made comments that drew sharp criticism.
She called the original animated prince a stalker, said the new version would not be a love story, and emphasized that her Snow White would focus on leadership rather than waiting to be rescued. The comments were widely seen as her insulting the very project she was hired to promote. She made additional remarks that compounded the issue. In one interview, she joked that all of her co-star’s scenes could be cut, adding, “It’s Hollywood, baby.
” She also quipped that she deserved to be paid for every hour her iconic princess dress was streamed online. Each comment added to a growing impression that she was dismissive of the project and its legacy. The controversy escalated beyond movie promotion. In late 2024, after the *Snow White* trailer drew significant attention, Zegler posted on X, “Always remember, free Palestine.
” Variety reported that the post triggered concern among Disney executives. The film’s producer, Marc Platt, reportedly flew to meet with her in person to discuss the statement, which had sparked fears about the movie’s commercial prospects. The post remained up. Following the November 2024 election, Zegler posted on Instagram, saying that Trump supporters, voters, and Trump himself should “never know peace.
” Disney reportedly assigned someone to monitor her social media activity. She later issued an apology, stating that she had let her emotions get the best of her. Internal frustrations became public in March 2025. Marc Platt’s son, Jonah Platt, posted on social media about the situation.
In a since-deleted post, he criticized Zegler’s actions as a lack of “adult responsibility and accountability,” and stated that her choices clearly hurt the film’s box office. Around the same time, reports indicated Disney was so concerned about her public statements that it shifted marketing strategy away from traditional press interviews in favor of influencer chats, effectively limiting the lead actress’s public appearances. When *Snow White* opened on March 21, 2025, it grossed about $42 million domestically in its opening weekend and stalled at roughly $194 million worldwide. Production and marketing costs reportedly exceeded $270 million, leaving Disney with estimated losses between $115 million and $170 million.
The trailer had also become one of Disney’s most disliked online. By comparison, Disney’s 2017 *Beauty and the Beast* earned $357 million in its opening weekend alone. The failure had consequences beyond a single film. Disney reportedly put its live-action *Tangled* remake on hold and canceled a planned *Hunchback of Notre Dame* remake.
Composer Alan Menken suggested some stories might be too heavy for the studio’s current direction. A slate of other live-action remakes was shelved or frozen. While no single person is responsible for the performance of a major film, Zegler’s name has become attached to the project widely seen as triggering the slowdown. In her public responses, Zegler has largely positioned herself as a victim.
She has spoken about being the target of online harassment and hate, framing the criticism as coordinated attacks rather than consequences of her own actions. She referenced the broken, headless statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace in one interview, expressing hope that people would still wait in line to see her despite her flaws and cracks. For many viewers, the absence of any acknowledgment of her own role in the backlash felt like only half the story. The Met Gala, which took place one day after her 25th birthday, became the flashpoint.
Critics flooded her birthday posts with reminders of the film’s performance, and the jaw clip provided a new reason to pile on. Unlike earlier controversies, few public figures came to her defense. The goodwill she had accumulated earlier in her career appeared spent. When the mockery became overwhelming, Zegler fired back at her critics.
The reaction itself became a separate viral story, joining the jaw movement and the dress as three simultaneous controversies. Some online commenters even suggested the jaw movements indicated she might have been intoxicated, a claim for which no evidence was presented. The central issue was never truly the jaw movement itself. It was a release valve for years of accumulated frustration over her interviews, her political posts, the film’s financial losses, the shelved projects, and her repeated framing of herself as a victim.
The Met Gala simply gave the public a reason to bring it all up at the same time.
