She’s one of the most in-demand stars in Hollywood right now.
But that hasn’t stopped the harsh criticism.
Despite her success, Zendaya recently found herself responding to cruel online comments after trolls targeted her parents in a family photo.
Grossed more than $3.9 billion worldwide
Born in Oakland, California, Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman began her career as a child model and backup dancer before rising to fame as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up.
Now 28, Zendaya is at the top of her game, with major projects on the way like The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, and The Drama. Her films as a leading actress have grossed more than $3.9 billion worldwide.
Alongside acting, she’s built a successful career in music and modeling, and has even been named one of the most beautiful women in the world based on a Golden Ratio study.
But despite all that success, she hasn’t been immune to online negativity.
Back in 2015, the former Disney Channel star shared a selfie with her parents, Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. Her father is African American with Nigerian roots, while her mother, Claire , has German and Scottish ancestry.
Both are former public school teachers and Zendaya often credits her parents for keeping her grounded.
Speaking previously about them, Zendaya told Ellen DeGeneres:
“I gotta give it up to my parents. I’m really lucky to have the parents that I have. They just have always instilled in me those core values that I think I have to carry with me through everything.”
However, the sweet family moment quickly turned ugly when trolls flooded the comments with offensive remarks about her parents’ appearance.
One person wrote: “Her parents really ugly I really would cry,” while another added: “They made a gorgeous a** child lol.”
Zendaya didn’t stay silent.
Instead, she fired back with a powerful response:
“First, I’m gonna pray for you. While you’re so concerned about what my parents look like, please know that these are two of the most selfless people in the world.”
She continued, defending their character and life’s work:
“They have chosen to spend their entire life, not worried about trivial things such as looks and insulting people’s parents on Twitter, but instead became educators who have dedicated their lives to teaching, cultivating and filling young, shallow minds.”
Encouraging kindness, she added:
“So please, log out, go to school, hug a teacher and read a textbook… and while you’re at it, go look in the mirror and know that you too are beautiful, because such hateful things only stem from internal struggles. Bless you.”
She signed off the message from herself and her “beautiful family.”
It wasn’t the only time Zendaya addressed criticism head-on. In 2020, she also spoke out after stepping away from a planned biopic about Aaliyah, making it clear that online backlash had nothing to do with her decision.
“The reason why I chose not to do the Aaliyah movie had nothing to do with the haters, or people telling me that I ‘couldn’t do it,’ or ‘wasn’t talented enough’ or I wasn’t ‘Black enough,’” she said.
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