Alright, so here’s a headline that sounds like it came out of a Mad Libs game at a music nerd-slash-pop culture convention: “John Lennon’s son beefs with the new Snow White.”
Let’s break down the glorious, chaotic saga of Sean Lennon vs. Rachel Zegler, the internet’s latest random celebrity feud that started with a flippant tweet… and ended with a full-blown essay on Disney, death, and Fantasia.
So, Sean Lennon, the soft-spoken, artsy son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, goes on X and casually bashed Rachel Zegler.
Why? Because someone asked him what he thought about the Snow White backlash, and apparently, Sean had time that day.
While, in the now deleted post, Sean said he “agreed the vilification” of Zegler had gone “too far”, he added: “But she also acts like a spoiled, ungrateful and disconnected brat. So it’s no surprise.”
Now, Lennon once again taken to X to clarify his opinion of Zegler, writing:
“Okay this whole press cycle around me replying to someone’s tweet in which I essentially said, yes, the vitriol against Rachel is too much but she brought it on herself—it has all gotten very out of hand. I feel I must reply even though it feels like giving more energy to tabloid fodder. My original statement was that everyone piling on both Zegler and Gadot were being silly because they’re both very beautiful women. Then someone was agreeing with me but saying Zegler especially was being unfairly attacked.
“Mind you mine was a flippant reply to someone’s tweet I don’t know—I simply said she brought it on herself (but with spicier adjectives).
“I do regret using harsh language but I never imagined the DailyMail and the New York Post would bother writing articles about it. This is my own unforgivable naïveté.
“For the record I have said many arrogant and ridiculous things in my youth and continue to—-although less frequently—in my old age. Zegler is young and I can very much relate to being unable to subdue one’s own verbosity when speaking to the press. I remember an adult once telling me I suffered from the ‘arrogance of youth.’ He was right. (Now I suffer from the arrogance of old age.)
“I think Zegler is incredibly talented. To sing and act with such ease is something I could never personally imagine. I have immense respect for her.
“But the PR she did around the Snow White film made her seem very arrogant and ungrateful and ‘spoiled’ in my opinion as a life long Disney fan. (I can’t even begin to express the degree to which Fantasia shaped my musical and visual brain; and given the circumstances of my childhood, Bambi was incredibly meaningful in helping me process what happened to my father.)
“I have not seen the entire film. But from the clips I would agree that Zegler’s talent is undeniable.
“I do think Gadot, although I have liked some of her films previously, seems a bit less ‘spectacular’ in her role as the Evil Queen.
“I personally think both women look sufficiently like the original characters as actors in terms of casting. That never bothered me at all. (Nor does the casting for the Beatles films, it’s called acting!)
“But I did dislike that the film seems to have been rewritten as if to say there was something inherently wrong with the original Grimms’ Fairytale.”
“(Here this is my totally subjective film critic talking). I don’t think Snow White is the right character to rewrite into ‘a strong leader who doesn’t need a prince.’ I think there are myriad other amazing stories that would suit that kind of character, but not Snow White. (I would be very psyched to see a Zegler Joan D’arc, for example). I could be wrong in this regard, (maybe there is a rewrite of Snow White where she’s more like GI Jane or something that would work), but from the reviews it would seem this version did not land with audiences.
“I refuse to accept anyone framing my critique of Zegler’s PR campaign for Snow White as taking sides politically. This is not at all about politics. It’s about me being a life long Disney fan who admittedly takes their IP way too seriously for the age that I am.”
