Disney is reportedly set to ditch its DEI-focused casting and hire a white actress for its latest live-action reboot as the company attempts to end its run of box office bombs.
The studio has suffered a string of flops in recent years after recasting previously white characters with actors of color, including Latina actress Rachel Zegler as Snow White earlier this year.
Zegler's outspoken pro-Palestine social media posts also led to criticism of Disney, which suffered a $50 million loss from the movie.
The poor box office showing led Disney to shelve its plans to remake Rapunzel, fearing a woke-rebrand of the blonde haired character could repeat its dismal showing.
But now the movie has since been relaunched, fueling speculation over who could be cast to hinge the blockbuster's fortunes on.
Industry insider Matthew Belloni revealed that Disney executives told him that the anti-woke shift within the company is now well-known.
'Disney is about to cast a new Rapunzel in the revived live-action remake of Tangled,' he wrote in his Puck newsletter.
'I’ll bet you the price of that long, braided wig that the gig will go to a white actress.'
While he stopped short of naming any names, Scarlett Johansson is being eyed to star as Mother Gothel in the new movie, reports Variety.
Production of the reboot was paused back in April following Snow White's dismal box office performance.
Disney and Zegler were trashed for tearing apart the beloved classic.
Zegler in particular came under fire for her takes on the classic plot from 1937, such as saying that the prince 'literally stalks' the princess and said the love story was 'weird.'
The actress's casting was not the only criticism, as fans took issue with Disney ditching the Seven Dwarfs characters in favor of a diverse group of 'magical creatures' of all heights, gender and race.
The struggling production followed Disney's previous rollout of The Little Mermaid in 2023, which was also scathed for its 'woke' re-imagining of the classic.
Black actress Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in the main role, while Melissa McCarthy was also criticized for saying that she based her villain Ursula on drag queens.
The Rapunzel movie remained in limbo over the summer, but was revived after the success of Disney's Lilo and Stich remake, which made over $1 billion worldwide.
Following the election of Donald Trump and his anti-DEI crackdown, Disney joined a number of major studios who scaled back or eradicated their DEI departments.
Belloni reported that Disney staffers told him the company's top HR executive, Sonia Coleman, sent a companywide email last week informing workers that DEI was no-more.
Coleman said that the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department was now rebranded as 'Opportunity and Inclusion', which was to 'empower all through access, opportunity, and a culture of belonging'.
Disney is far from alone in ditching DEI, with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery also publicly announcing that they were ending all DEI initiatives.
