Professional conservative provocateur Ben Shapiro sparked outrage by sharing his anti-LGBTQ+ views on the possibility of Frozen’s Elsa being a lesbian.
During a recent episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, the media personality ranted for over an hour about why people should boycott beer brand Bud Light for sending commemorative cans to trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney. The cans were never produced in bulk nor were they available to the public.
Shapiro then turned his attention to the possibility of a cartoon character's sexual orientation, expressing that if the lead princess were made a lesbian in Frozen 4—which does not exist yet—it would "destroy" Disney as a company.
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Ben Shapiro: "The great suspicion is that in Frozen 4, they'll make Elsa a lesbian ... If they do that, it is the end of Disney as a company. Predict it. You can write it down. It is April 17th. If they do that in Frozen 4, it will destroy Disney." pic.twitter.com/5j83mdva4y
— Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) April 17, 2023
Shapiro said:
"The great suspicion is that in Frozen 4, they’ll make Elsa a lesbian. If they do that, it is the end of Disney as a company. Predict it. You can write it down."
"It is April 17. If they do that in Frozen 4, it will destroy Disney, like thoroughly destroy it.”
This is not the first time that rumours have circulated about Elsa’s sexuality, with unidentified sources revealing in 2019 that Elsa would have a girlfriend in the third film, confirming her sexuality in the process. LGBTQ+ fans have long claimed Elsa as a queer-coded icon, as she has shown no interest in finding a male love interest throughout the Frozen franchise.
As of now, Disney has not commented on the speculation regarding Elsa's sexuality, and it remains to be seen if it will be addressed in any future Frozen films. Regardless of Disney's future plans, it is clear that LGBTQ+ representation is important to many fans of the franchise, and efforts to deny or suppress that representation will not be tolerated.
Shapiro’s views have been widely criticised, with many accusing him of being a snowflake for having a meltdown about the mere idea of a cartoon character being a lesbian.
I wonder which specific part of Ben's emotional infrastructure is represented here by "Disney as a company."
— Michael Andor Brodeur (@michael_brodeur) April 17, 2023
Watching this with the sound off, you would never know you were talking about the sexual preference of Disney cartoon character. You look so serious.
Frozen Snowflake.
— Joel Keith (@MayNotBeJoking) April 17, 2023
.@benshapiro on Frozen fan fiction. Totally normal.
— Brandon Wolf (@bjoewolf) April 18, 2023
To quote Elsa..let it go
— Patrick Gallagher (@PatrickGman) April 17, 2023
Imagine having fan theories about movies for little kids. What a loser.
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) April 18, 2023
Self-caricature.
— Thomas Ley (@thomas_ley) April 18, 2023
And of course, quite a few reminded him Frozen 3 doesn't even exist, so how could there possibly be a Frozen 4?
Did I miss Frozen 3?
— Matthew Hay Brown (@matthewhaybrown) April 17, 2023
Adults listen to him complain about sequels to sequels of animated movies that don’t even yet exist?
— Ryan Marino, MD (@RyanMarino) April 17, 2023
I just want Frozen 4 to have lots of college hockey references. Is that too much to ask?
— Patron Saint of Lost Causes, Jeff Skrenes (@jskrenes) April 17, 2023
Shapiro has made headlines recently for increasingly absurd performative right-wing outrage.
Last fall, he claimed the United States military abandoned "traditional masculinity" and declared wars are best fought by “typically very patriotic, very male people.” His remarks were quickly disregarded by actual members of the armed forces who noted he has never served in the military.
Around the same time, he garnered more criticism after he reached for the cosmos again, this time to insist Democratic President Joe Biden has an "equity agenda" and wants to put LGBTQ+ astronauts on the moon, describing the possibility as something that "sounds like a bad pornography."
