Rachel Zegler‘s hate train has seemingly been (somewhat) stopped in its tracks, thanks in part to her starring turn in the West End production of Evita—and her recent, viral defense of her (hot) bodyguard, Danny.
Each night, Zegler, who’s starring in Evita through September, leaves the stage to sing the musical’s showstopping ballad, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” from the actual balcony at the London Palladium, resulting in multiple clips of her stunning performance going viral. But this doesn’t mean she doesn’t still need extra protection from the deranged adults still mad about the way she talked about a children’s cartoon.
Over the weekend, a new video of Zegler greeting fans outside the Palladium went viral; this time for the very mature, very I’ve-received-death-threats-from-Disney-adults way in which Zegler spoke to a fan for disrespecting her (hot) security guard, known to us only as “Danny.” “My Danny,” if you’re nasty.
In the video, Zegler stops signing autographs to intervene in an argument between a fan and her security guard, who is large, square-jawed, and has a neck tattoo. While the fan claims the security guard was “doing too much,” Zegler calmly explains, “he’s just helping me because crowds are very, very intimidating.” (You know, because of the death threats.) She then delivers the line, “I love you so much, but please don’t disrespect my Danny,” before returning to sign autographs and pulling a little face for the fans. I’ve never seen a celeb gentle parent their fans for disrespecting their space,” one person commented on TikTok.
And while it’s not totally clear what caused the kerfuffle, it is clear that Zegler’s earth-shattering eye roll finished it.
It’s unfortunate that this 24-year-old actress needs a security guard or feels “very, very” intimidated by crowds to begin with. But between becoming the most-hated main character among Disney adults who didn’t think she was white enough to play Snow White, and the producer of that same film (Marc Platt) allegedly flying across the country to personally demand she take down a pro-Palestine tweet…I’d also feel safer with a Danny around.
marc platt flying down to have a conversation with rachel zegler to reprimand her for attempting to insight some justice in the world pic.twitter.com/0f76XHyQRK
So, who is the large, neck-tattooed man? Not totally clear, but some internet sleuths have found videos of him working as her bodyguard for at least four years. Now that he’s on her fans’ radar, hopefully Zegler won’t have to worry about them making weird fancams of him.
Just kidding. Unfortunately, that train has already left the station.
Dakota Johnson is “doing well” after her breakup with Chris Martin. [People]
Selena Gomez successfully resisted the siren song of bangs. (By getting fake bangs.) [Elle]
Sarah Michelle Gellar wants to bring back every Buffy character for the reboot. Even the dead ones. [Variety]
Tyler the Creator thinks we need fewer podcasters, more electricians. [NFR Podcast]
Johnathan Bailey is pro kissing your friends (congrats to Johnathan Bailey’s friends!). [Page Six]