(Updates from Tuesday, April 23, 19:00 CET with Sophia's statements to Bored Panda have been included at the end of the story)
A cast member who portrayed Snow White at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA, was allegedly fired over a childhood picture of herself in the Disney princess costume.
Taking to her newly created YouTube channel, Sophia Dottir posted a video on April 5 where she openly discussed the moment Disney sacked her.
Highlights
An Ex-Disney Princess was allegedly fired over a childhood photo of herself dressed as Snow White, sparking debate on company policies.
Sophia Dottir, studying to be a nurse, shared her termination story on YouTube, highlighting "character integrity online" issues.
Despite company guidelines, there are no specific rules about childhood photos in character, leaving Sophia and supporters baffled by the decision.
At the time of posting the video, Sophia, who had been cast as Snow White in the amusement park, had been dismissed from the company a week prior.
The former employee, who is currently studying to be a nurse, said bosses had “called her in” one day before announcing that she had broken “character integrity online.”
All Disney performers undergo training, which typically ends with a lengthy test to ensure each performer knows all the rules and regulations, WDW Info writes.
The website dedicated to Disney news further states that these rules and regulations also break down what cast members can and can’t do while on stage or meeting guests.
In addition to many restrictions listed in the company’s cast and crew handbook, staff must follow specific guidelines when it comes to social media, including respecting the prohibition on using livestream apps (TikTok, Facebook Live, YouTube, etc.) while on set/location.
A Disney cast member who portrayed Snow White was allegedly fired due to a childhood photo of herself in the princess costume
Nevertheless, there are no specific rules listed in the guidelines that refer to cast members' childhood photographs in character costumes, which is why Sophia was left feeling “whiplashed” after the announcement that she was being laid off.
According to the former Disney princess, the company’s investigators called attention to Sophia’s picture as a little girl wearing a Snow White costume that she had posted on Instagram back in March, which she had captioned “Some things are simply meant to be.”
The baffled worker recalled that it had all been a misunderstanding, saying investigators accused her of identifying as Snow White since childhood, which she denied.
After concluding a first accusatory meeting with her employers, Sophia revealed: “They escorted me off of property like a criminal.”
She went on to explain that she had been banned from the parks and the hotels, and she was left on unpaid leave for two weeks, waiting for further investigations to conclude.
“Goddam, I didn't realize I killed Mickey Mouse himself,” Sophia exclaimed on YouTube.
With the investigation finally concluded, leaving the future nurse with the worst possible outcome, Sophia was left stunned and confused, as she had seen other cast members post similar content to hers and, therefore, would’ve preferred to be fired over a more obvious reason.
“I wish I got drunk and fought Peter Pan or something,” she joked before revealing that she was forced to “pack up and leave” the Disney compound where she lived in “less than 24 hours.”
After being banned from the parks, Sophia Dottir was put on unpaid leave and swiftly fired following an investigation
Sophia had been enrolled in the Disney College Program (DCP), a US-based national internship program operated by the Disney Programs division of The Walt Disney Company, located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando and the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
According to the Disney Program's official website, all DCP participants are required to pay a non-refundable program fee of $442.
For those opting to reside in Orlando’s Flamingo Crossings Village, such as Sophia, $202 is allocated for housing expenses.
Additionally, $65 of the housing fee covers the Flamingo Crossings Village administration fee, while the remaining $137 contributes toward a portion of the first week's housing costs or rent.
Since June 2023, DCP interns earn $16.00 per hour, Monroe Community College State University of New York notes.
Last month, Sophia uploaded an initial video, which she said was also mentioned during her termination meeting, providing a very honest outlook on the DCP internship.
At the time of posting the video, the former cast member had been living at Disney for two months and said she had faced a “reprimand” from the company for being sick, even after having gone to urgent care and coming back with a doctor’s note, which Disney evidently did not find to be a sufficient reason to excuse her from her shift.
Disney’s reprimand system is based on attendance and behavior, and it relies on points, which if an employee accumulates enough, results in an intern’s termination.
“The job is very rewarding but very exhausting and hard,” Sophia admitted in her video.
Sophia highlighted the challenges of the Disney College Program internship, including its strict attendance policies
It is also worth noting that in her first YouTube video openly discussing her DCP experience, Sophia declared: “Free Palestine.”
Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, made an official announcement in October that the company pledged $2 million and further initiatives to support Israel.
While Bob explicitly condemned attacks on Jews in Israel, he made no mention of the genocide of Palestinian people, sparking outrage from international organizations and members of the public.
On Monday (April 22), Sophia took to her Instagram page to post a short clip of herself impersonating Snow White while embracing a little girl, seemingly at one of the Disney parks.
“So many little memories of my sweet snow, walking around, all over the world,” the former cast member captioned.
Bored Panda has Disney representatives for comment.
As of now, Sophia has not received any backlash from Disney since her termination, she informed Bored Panda in an email.
The former Disney princess confirmed that character performers sign a contract about character integrity, however, aren’t told to avoid talking about being an employee altogether.
“Which is why I was vocal about my unhappiness working for the company and have continued to do so after leaving,” she said.
Sophia acknowledged that the response she had received after uploading her video detailing her termination with Disney had been “pretty mixed”.
She explained: “They either hate me or they love me and there’s not much in between.
“The support from people has been really uplifting, and I have had a lot of current cast members reach out thanking me for talking about the negatives of the job publicly.”
All things considered, Sophia said she would “love” to be a princess again, “but never for Walt Disney World.”
When asked if her termination was in any way related to her “Free Palestine” statement made in a separate video on YouTube, Sophia clarified that during her meetings, “I was only made aware of one phrase that I said, that had upset them. If there was any other reason for my termination, I was not made aware of it.”
Sophia went on to admit that she understood that she had broken her contract with Disney, noting: “I think I’ve given off the impression that I don’t understand what happened.
“I fully understand the situation. I just believe it’s stupid, quite frankly.
“My issue is with the way that the company very poorly handled the situation.
“In our training, there was never a clear line drawn as to what we are and are not allowed to say online.
“We were just told not to break character integrity and they gave us a few examples.
“Face characters operate under a very gray area and because of that, they should have given me a chance to rectify the situation.
“If you look hard enough, you will find other Disney employees ‘breaking character integrity’ on social media all the time.
“And that’s why I think it was the other statements I made about the company as a whole, that got me fired.”
The former Disney employee criticized the company for “taking a clip of something I said without the full context and used it to pretend like I broke integrity.”
“I just think it’s interesting that they chose such a weak argument to use against me,” Sophia added. “It makes them look like there was secretly another reason as to why they wanted to get rid of me.”
Finally, Sophia highlighted that Disney could be the “friendly and inclusive company that they pretend to be”.
“I hope the performers who come after me can be openly proud of their job and post without fear,” she said.
Many people expressed support for Sophia
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