Rachel Zegler is under fire for her “f–k Trump” remarks.
As with the rest of America, celebrity responses to the 2024 election results have varied.
Many have responded with grief and well-reasoned fears. Others have responded with misogynistic memes.
Rachel Zegler vented her anger — not only over Trump’s victory and America’s defeat, but over the voters who are returning him to office. After backlash, including one pundit actually calling HER a “pig,” she has apologized.
What did Rachel Zegler say about Donald Trump?
Rachel Zegler, star of West Side Story and the upcoming Disney remake of Snow White, took to her Instagram in the wake of the 2024 election results.
Like many, many, many people, she was frustrated by the results and the looming uncertainty of what’s to come.
“I find myself speechless in the midst of this,” she began. She expressed her heartbreak and disappointment at the “sheer number of people who showed up for this man who threatens our democracy.”
Rachel affirmed; “I am here with you. To cry, to yell, to hug. To wax poetic on how the left continues to fail us in forging a new path forward.”
Like millions of Americans, Rachel went on to lament the “deep, deep sickness in this country” that allows people like Trump to triumph over basic decency.
She also expressed a hope that “Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.” She also concluded one of her Story posts with a succinct: “F–k Donald Trump.”
Zegler also wisely urged people to discontinue using Twitter. Trump hype-man Elon Musk purchased the platform and has made it monumentally worse, causing an exodus of millions of users. Critics disagree on how much of Twitter’s decline is the result of malice vs incompetence when it comes to its notorious owner.
Why is Rachel Zegler getting backlash?
In the wake of her remarks, some readers did not find Rachel Zegler’s take on Trump to be relatable. Instead, they passed around screenshots on social media, as if they were evidence of wrongdoing.
“@rachelzegler is an untalented, hateful piece of human debris,” declared one Twitter denizen.
Another tweet complained: “I never thought that we’d reach a point where a literal Disney princess would purposefully use words like ‘f–k’ in a public statement, but here we are.”
While it’s true that many people who find the use of “f–k” to be scandalous are elderly, that doesn’t mean that this Twitter user was. Political motivations can make the most ordinary behavior — such as Rachel Zegler’s sentiments towards Trump — seem “outrageous.” We all do it.
The bizarre backlash was not limited to random people who are still posting to Twitter like it’s 2014. Rightwing provocateur Megyn Kelly went so far as to call Rachel “a pig.” Classy as always, Megyn.
Then, rather quickly, Rachel opted to backpedal and apologize for the tone of her Trump commentary.
“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,” she penned in a new Instagram Story.
“This week has been emotional for so many of us,” she acknowledged. “But I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own.”
Rachel concluded her much-less-relatable-than-her-earlier-posts apology with: “I am committed to contributing positively towards a better tomorrow.” That last part, at least, makes a lot of sense.
Did Disney force her to apologize?
There are no indications that Disney strong-armed any apologies. However, Rachel is the lead in Disney’s upcoming live action remake (they keep making these for some reason) of Snow White.
It’s possible that Disney asked her to walk back her comments after threats of a boycott from people who clearly have a skewed sense of right and wrong. (Speaking of such people, her co-star is Gal Gadot, so … this film was already going to be controversial.)
But were Rachel’s Trump comments crossing the line? Probably not. That one line about Trump voters never knowing peace may have gone a bit too far, however.
After all, surely we want to create a world where everyone — even those in our country that have once again set us off course — can thrive and know peace.
Remember, when they go low, we go high.
