Rachel Zegler apologizes for foul mouthed anti-Trump rant: 'I let my emotions get the best of me'

Article content

Rachel Zegler has apologized for comments she made to social media following Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president last week.

After Trump triumphed over Vice President Kamala Harris, beating the Democrat in both the Electoral College and popular vote, the 23-year-old actress said she was “speechless” and lamented what she called “another four years of hatred.”

“I find myself speechless in the midst of this,” she wrote in an Instagram Story. “Another four years of hatred, leaning us towards a world I do not want to live in. Leaning us towards a world that will be hard to raise my daughter in.

“There is a deep sickness in this country … shown in the sheer amount of people who showed up for this man who threatens our democracy,” Zegler wrote of president-elect Trump.

Zegler continued her rant, adding that she hoped “Trump supporters and Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace.” She signed off her note with, “F— Donald Trump.”

After the backlash over her post, the Hunger Games star shared a post to her Instagram Story apologizing for her remarks.

“Hi everyone, I would like to sincerely apologize for the election post I shared on my Instagram last week. I let my emotions get the best of me,” Zegler wrote on Instagram. “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.”

Zegler said the week has been “emotional for so many of us.”

“But I firmly believe that everyone has the right to their opinion, even when it differs from my own,” she continued. “I am committed to contributing positively toward a better tomorrow.”

Megyn Kelly branded Zegler “a pig” after the actress’ foul-mouthed tirade.

“Picture this, a Broadway actress who said, ‘F Biden supporters, may Biden and Kamala never know peace.’ That person would be fired so fast it would make your head spin,” Kelly said this week.

“Hello, Disney! You’re gonna have to redo (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) again, because this woman is a pig, and you fired Gina Carano (who was axed from The Mandalorian in 2021) for far less than this nonsense,” Kelly said. “There’s something wrong with this person.”

The controversy over Zegler’s tirade came after she stirred anger when she discussed her upcoming live-action Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remake that’s due in theatres next year.

Zegler, who also starred in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 West Side Story revamp and last year’s Shazam! sequel, was trending as Snow White fans picked apart remarks the she made about the classic cartoon while promoting the revamp in 2022.

“The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didn’t do that this time,” Zegler told Extra TV in a viral red carpet interview.

“We have a different approach to what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story, just because we cast a guy in the movie,” she continued. “It’s one of those things that I think everyone is going to have their assumptions about what it’s going to be. But it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful. Whether or not she finds love along the way is anybody’s guess.”

Zegler then suggested that the Prince Charming character (played by Andrew Burnap) “could get cut,” adding: “Who knows? It’s Hollywood, baby.”

On X some followers accused Zegler of meddling too much with the original.

“She is just too passionate about how horrible a classic is. It’s a classic for a reason. It provides us with realities and the beliefs of the particular moment in time it represents,” one person wrote, with another adding, “I think she intended to audition for Grumpy and went through the wrong door.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com