Rachel Zegler will go the Oscars as a presenter, but only after she publicized her snub

Again, stop directing any negativity towards Rachel Zegler, a 20-year-old actress who is the lead of West Side Story. She wanted to go to the Oscars to support her first film, a film she is extremely proud of, a film which was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture. It’s insane that she wasn’t given a ticket by Disney. It’s insane that Oscar producers didn’t invite her to be a presenter before this sh-tstorm. And do not go off on poor Disney not being able to afford a delay in shooting Snow White because Zegler wants to fly from London to LA for the biggest awards show. It’s DISNEY. They can truly work around her for a week, or give everyone a week off for the Oscars. In any case, a deal was struck and now Zegler will be a presenter on Sunday. It’s hard to imagine that would have happened if she hadn’t spoken out about the snub.

Following an internet firestorm over the revelation that Rachel Zegler, the star of best picture Oscar nominee West Side Story, had not been invited to attend the 2022 Oscars on Sunday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the up-and-comer to be a presenter at the ceremony, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The 20-year-old Latina actress is currently in London shooting Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White. THR hears that efforts are being undertaken to rearrange the film’s shooting schedule to enable Zegler to be at the Oscars.

In response to Zegler’s posting, social media users erupted in outrage, as did notables from One Day at a Time co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett to the original West Side Story‘s Riff, Russ Tamblyn, with many remarking on the oddity of non-industry types like Tony Hawk and Shaun White having been asked to present on the show, but not the leading lady and public face of a best picture Oscar nominee.

To be sure, Zegler was not personally nominated this year (neither were Hawk or White), so the Academy was under no obligation to invite her and Disney was under no obligation to allocate one of its tickets for her. (Each nominee and presenter is offered a pair of tickets, and each studio gets an allotment, though fewer tickets were distributed this year due to COVID-19 precautions.) But many thought both the organization and the studio should have made sure that the star of a best picture nominee was at the ceremony in one capacity or another.

[From THR]

Again, Zegler is the lead AND she wanted to go. Of course there have been moments when the lead actors of nominated films haven’t gone to the Oscars, but when that happens, it’s almost always the actors’ choice because they have something else going on. Those actors are always *invited*. Rachel Zegler was not invited until a full 48 hours of sh-tty “debate” about whether the lead of West Side Story should go to the Oscars. Anyway, this issue was solved by Oscar producers and Disney. Disney will work out the film schedule for Snow White and the Oscar producers worked out her invite as a presenter. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.