Gal Gadot blames anti-Israel sentiment for Snow White's £84m loss
The film, released in March this year, was a live-action remake of the original 1937 feature-length cartoon made by Walt Disney.
It was marred by controversy after Rachel Zegler, the film's lead actor, said on social media she has been 'public with a pro-Palestine stance since 2021'.
Israeli Gadot, 40, who was cast as the evil stepmother, has now broken her silence about why she thought the film failed.
Speaking to Israeli TV station Keshet 12's The A Talks programme, she said: 'I was sure this movie was going to be a huge hit.
'And then October 7 happened. What's happening in all kinds of industries, and also in Hollywood, is that there's a lot of pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel.'
Zegler, 23, was criticised after she shared the trailer for the studio's live-action remake online last summer, with the comment: 'And always remember, free Palestine.'
The New York Times said Mark Platt, the film's lead producer, flew to Los Angeles to have a 'heart-to-heart' with Zegler after her post caused a 'severe rift' with Gadot, it was reported at the time.
While Gadot stayed silent on the issue at the time, she has now said: 'I can always explain and try to give context about what's happening here, and I always do that. But in the end, people make their own decisions. And I was disappointed the movie was so affected and it didn't succeed at the box office. But that's how it goes.'
Posting on her Instagram account on Sunday, Gadot added: 'Of course, the film didn't fail solely because of external pressures. There are many factors that determine why a film succeeds or fails and success is never guaranteed.'
Among the films controversies was a flip-flop decisions about casting actual dwarves or CGI representations.
Bringing in Zegler as Snow White was also criticised because she is not white, despite the original German fairytale describing the character's 'skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony'.
Disney scaled back a lavish Hollywood premiere and cancelled planned interviews with the media following the fallout.
Talking about her role, Zegler also suggested her character was a feminist, prompting commentators to criticise the actress for trying to make the beloved fairytale into a 'woke' retelling.
Zegler also suggested the feature film was based on a different version of the 1812 Brothers Grimm fairytale.
She said David Hand's 1937 original animated film was 'extremely dated when it comes to the ideas of women being in roles of power' and admitted she has only seen it once.
'The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so,' she told Extra TV in 2022. 'There's a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird. So we didn't do that this time.'
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Priscilla Presley seen after slamming $50M lawsuit
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'Our client, Priscilla Presley filed a complaint over a year ago in which she alleges that she was the victim of a concerted effort by Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko (among others) to isolate her from her trusted advisors and dupe her into signing a series of agreements in which Kruse contends she gave them a majority interest in Presley's own name, image, and likeness, in perpetuity, and that purportedly required Presley to get their permission before even accepting any offer of employment or otherwise. 'In an order on one of a series of motions that Kruse filed (and lost, one after the other) in a desperate effort to avoid facing responsibility for her actions, the Court found that, 'if plaintiff's allegations are true…it is classic elder abuse.' 'After suffering a series of defeats in lawsuits in both California and Florida, Kruse and her co-conspirators are desperately and transparently employing the strategy of 'the best defense is a good offense.' 'It will not work. It is also evident that Kruse, Fialko and her new 4th set of attorneys are not happy with the rulings this past year by the judge handling the existing case against Kruse and Fialko by going forum shopping to try and go before a different judge.' The statement added that Riley Keough 'stands behind her grandmother 100 per cent and is equally disgusted with this latest, vicious attempt by Kruse to attempt to ruin her grandmother's life.' Elsewhere in the lawsuit Kruse and Fialko filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Stan Lee 's ex- business manager Keya Morgan - who was previously acquitted of theft charges against the Marvel icon - was accused of orchestrating Presley's elder abuse claims against Kruse and Fialko. The legal row first erupted in 2023 when Presley was sued for breach of contract by businesswoman Kruse - who said that she managed Presley's business and personal affairs when she was nearly broke and had outstanding tax debts of nearly $700,000. Presley denied these claims and in July 2024 sued for 'financial elder abuse' - claiming Kruse, Fialko, Vahe Sislyan and Lynn Walker Wright 'preyed on her' and stole over $1million from her - which was denied by their lawyers. Presley allegedly first approached Kruse and Fialko in 2022 when she was in 'severe financial distress'. The new lawsuit claim Kruse and Fialko restructured her finances, negotiated settlements and increased her event profits from under $10,000 to as much as $50,000 per show. The plaintiffs claim they formed several companies with Presley to 'exploit her NIL [Name, image, likeness] and invested 'large sums of money in merchandise, events, and marketing tied to Presley's image to enhance her depleted value.' The suit also alleges Presley falsely claimed ownership of her NIL, despite secretly selling the rights to the last name Presley and Graceland in 2005 for $6.5 million. It was alleged she 'never disclosed' this to Kruse and Fialko and later claimed that she 'forgot' about the deal. Morgan is accused of befriending Presley, threatening Kruse, and helping persuade Presley to sever ties with the plaintiffs by making elder abuse claims. It was claimed Morgan contacted Presley after the settlement saying that he could get the rights to her name, image and likeness back from Elvis Presley Enterprises, which manages Elvis Presley's intellectual property. The suit alleges after the settlement in 2023 Presley 'cut ties' with Priscilla Presley Partners, 'undermined their ventures, and began exploiting her NIL on her own, including high-profile appearances on NBC's Christmas at Graceland,, comic conventions, and promotional events) without disclosing or sharing proceeds. Presley is also accused of taking funds from company bank accounts and closing them without authorization and diverting endorsement payments to herself. Jordan Matthews, attorney for Kruse and Fialko, exclusively claimed to the Daily Mail: 'Our lawsuit demonstrates for the first time where Priscilla got the idea to claim elder abuse. 'We have thorough documentation to show that the idea came from Keya Morgan, who is now a co-defendant in this lawsuit, making him a serial comic book villain in what we intend to demonstrate is a real life tale of lives destroyed due to one woman's desperation and greed.' He added: 'As detailed video recordings and communications already confirm, there is absolutely no evidence of undue influence, coercion, or elder abuse involved, only a legitimate, well-documented business partnership. 'The evidence will establish that the real victims here are my clients, who invested millions and years of hard work into revitalizing Priscilla Presley's brand, only to be betrayed and falsely accused once the money was on the table and every personal and business issue had been resolved. 'Our complaint alleges that Priscilla targeted Kruse and Fialko from day one, when she was in dire financial need, faced with mounting IRS debt and multiple lawsuits, even within her own family. 'The complaint alleges that Priscilla's relationship with her daughter was in ruins for decades and long before Kruse and Fialko were involved. Kruse and Fialko invested seven figures into rebuilding Priscilla's brand, stabilizing her finances, settling her lawsuits, cleaning up numerous private family ordeals, and attempting to help Priscilla repair her relationship with her daughter. Priscilla has, in turn, smeared Kruse and Fialko with false lies and malicious campaigns.' The plaintiffs are seeking more than $50 million in damages, including punitive damages, along with injunctive relief to stop Presley from using her name, image or likeness outside of the 'agreed upon corporate structures.' The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Keya Morgan for comment and has yet to hear back. In court papers, which were filed in September 2023, Kruse said Presley had been 'about 60 days away from financial collapse' when she swooped in and got her affairs in order. Kruse said that she and the actress began a company Priscilla Presley Partners in 2022. Kruse told the court that she spent 'a significant amount of money and time' working on projects for Priscilla to capitalize on from publicity of the Sofia Coppola biopic Priscilla, which was released in October of 2023 . Priscilla's lawyer Singer said in 2024 that the star ceased working with Kruse when she found out 'Kruse and her associate were attempting to misappropriate Ms. Presley's assets and were engaging in other acts of wrongdoing.' In July 2024 Presley accused Kruse, Fialko, Sislyan and Walker Wright of financial elder abuse in a lawsuit, and 'forcing her into a form of indentured servitude' in a 'meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme.' Presley said she met Kruse in 2021 when Kruse ran a business selling Elvis memorabilia through an auction house. Kruse posed alongside Presley in an August 27, 2021 Instagram post in which she advertised a September 4, 2021 luncheon in Beverly Hills, California. The lawsuit claimed Kruse convinced Presley her former financial advisors were either 'deceitful or incompetent' - before allegedly duping her into signing contracts and forming companies which allowed her and her associates to get 80 per cent of her income - leaving Presley with 'just 20 percent of her own company.' Presley claimed the group left her with minority shares in companies they created which profited off her 'name, image and likeness'. The lawsuit was also against Priscilla Presley Partners, LLC. The lawsuit alleged funds from 2023 biopic Priscilla which starred Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny were also misappropriated and branded Kruse a 'con artist and pathological liar.' Presley also claimed her ex-business associates 'torpedoed' a deal for the star to get an ownership interest in a cosmetics company - but instead settled for a $300,000 upfront payment - which she says they put in their own bank accounts. The lawsuit claimed the associates were 'setting up new accounts at their preferred banks (and poisoning the relationship Presley had for many years with her financial institutions), adding themselves to her bank accounts, transferring funds between accounts (and to their own personal accounts), and entering into sham, insider transactions for their own benefit.' The lawsuit also claimed Kruse and associates took $40,000 out of an account for her son Navarone Garibaldi without authorization, tried to make deals related to the late Lisa Marie's estate and fraudulently charged Presley for moving and storage expenses. Presley sued Kruse for more than $1million in damages and wanted the contracts she signed with Kruse and the other defendants voided. Legal representatives for Kruse and Fialko told the Daily Mail at the time: 'The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla's business partners last year. 'We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail. It saddens all of us who dropped our lives to provide aid to a woman who needed help and she is now attempting to use her celebrity status to ruin the lives of kind, hardworking people.' A description on Kruse's Instagram page, which has more than 356,000 followers, lists Kruse as an Entrepreneur and Director of Operations for the brand Kruse GWS Auctions.
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