Disney’s new live-action remake of Snow White has been barred from Lebanon due to the film’s inclusion of Israeli star Gal Gadot, who is on the country’s “Israel boycott list.”
Gadot, 39, who has been a vocal advocate of Israel amid its conflict with Palestine, stars in the film as the Evil Queen alongside Rachel Zegler as the titular princess.
While the movie was released internationally last month, it has been banned from playing in Lebanese theaters. The ban was put in place by Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar, according to Variety, who was acting on behalf of the country’s film and media watchdog amid Israel’s ongoing attacks on the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, which have resulted in civilian deaths.
A representative for Middle East distributor Italia Films, which handles the release of Disney titles in the Beirut region, clarified to the outlet that this is not a new development, as Gadot has been on the country’s boycott list for some time. In fact, no movie in which she’s starred has ever been released in the country, per Variety.
The Independent has contacted Gadot’s representative for comment.
Gadot was born in Israel, where, at just 20 years old, she served as a combat fitness instructor in the IDF army for two years.
Her stint with the IDF included her participation in the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, which caused more than 1,000 Lebanese civilian deaths and left more than one million displaced. It additionally left 165 Israelis dead, of whom 44 were civilians, and more than 300,000 displaced.
Gadot’s participation in the 2006 war led to the country’s ban on her 2017 DC superhero movie, Wonder Woman, according to reports at the time.
In 2024, a year after Hamas’ October 7 attack inside Israel, Gadot gave an impassioned speech at the Anti-Defamation League’s summit, saying: “Never did I imagine that on the streets of the United States, and different cities around the world, we would see people not condemning Hamas, but celebrating, justifying and cheering on a massacre of Jews.”
Gadot’s enduring support of Israel sharply contrasted with her co-star Zegler’s support of Palestine, fueling rumors of on-set drama.
According to one source who spoke to People, the two had “nothing in common” and their “political views differ, adding to the tension.” A second added that while the two are “not friends” due to “a huge age gap and very different political views,” Gadot is “fine” with Zegler.
Reviews of Snow White have been abysmal, with critics finding the remake “disappointing” and “confusing.”
“This Disney musical offers nothing to the talented West Side Story star [Zegler],” The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey wrote in her one-star review of the movie, “and features a dud of a performance from Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.”
