“Snow White” Actor Reacts to ‘Controversy’ Surrounding the Live-Action Remake, Claims Disney Is ‘Afraid of the Blowback’

Martin Klebba, an actor in Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White, is sharing his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the soon-to-be-released film.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Klebba, 55 — who voices Grumpy, one of the seven dwarfs, and also serves as an advisor for the characters — reacted to the project’s premiere plans that are set to take place in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 15.

“It really isn’t going to be a red carpet,” the actor told the outlet. “It’s going to be at the El Capitan [Theatre], which is cool. But it’s basically going to be a pre-party, watch the movie, and that’s it.”

“There’s not going to be this whole hoopla of, ‘Disney’s first f—— movie they ever made.’ Because of all this controversy, they’re afraid of the blowback from different people in society,” Klebba continued.

The star also claimed that Snow White’s California premiere was changed from original plans because of “the controversy with Rachel,” referring to Rachel Zegler, who portrays the titular Snow White. THR clarified, however, that Klebba “had not been given direct information on why the event was altered.” A source with knowledge of the situation also tells PEOPLE, “Nothing was scaled back. It was always the plan to have an afternoon event for families as Disney has done in the past on other family films.”

Representatives for Klebba, Zegler and Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Related: Rachel Zegler Responds with a Swift Correction to Commenter Questioning Her Casting as Snow White

Snow White, which also stars Gal Gadot as The Evil Queen, is a live-action retelling of Disney’s first-ever animated feature, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Ahead of its release, the film — which is directed by Marc Webb, written by Erin Cressida Wilson and features original songs from composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — has faced backlash for a few different reasons.

Following her casting announcement in 2022, Zegler, 23, dealt with racist backlash over her playing the Disney Princess while being of Latinx background. (The actress is of Colombian and Polish descent.) She then faced controversy on other occasions, including when she revealed that Snow White’s name has a different origin story in the new film and when she described the original movie as “dated” and added that Prince Charming “literally stalks” Snow White.

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There has also been rumors of a rift between Zegler and Gadot, 39. A source recently told PEOPLE the two “have a huge age gap and very different political views.” (The Israeli-born Gadot, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, has advocated for the release of Israeli hostages, while Zegler has voiced support on social media for Palestine amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.)

Elsewhere, Snow White has been called out by Peter Dinklage, who was born with a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. He accused Disney of “hypocrisy,” citing the fairy tale’s “backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together.” (Disney opted to use CGI to bring the characters to life.)

Related: Inside Snow White’s ‘Iconic’ Costumes, Including the Evil Queen’s ‘Glamour and Sophistication’ (Exclusive)

Speaking about the concerns with using real people to portray the seven dwarfs, Klebba told THR, “I don’t usually get into the political stuff, but I [felt], ‘Dwarfs aren’t going to go away just because you can’t imagine that they’re there.’ We’re still going to be walking around.”

“So I didn’t get the whole stuff about not doing the dwarfs. The story’s been around forever, and it’s a classic,” he continued.

Klebba did explain to the outlet, though, that he understands why CGI was ultimately used to create the characters — which also include Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey.

“If you guys go this route, it just makes sense to be able to draw them the way you want,” the actor said. “This way, they’re all the same size. And to find seven little people actors to pull it off, that’s not an easy thing either.”