Don’t mess with Zendaya Coleman’s family! The 18-year-old Disney channel star didn’t sit by and watch Twitter users call her parents Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu “ugly.” Earlier this week, the KC Undercover actress caught wind of the tweets and shut the trolls down in the most mature manner possible.
“First, I’m going to 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 tweeted. “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. (One of the most important yet underpaid jobs we have).”
Zendaya finished her polite response by suggesting the users “go look in the mirror and know that you too are beautiful, because such hateful things only stem from internal struggles.”
This is not the first time the teenager has defended herself on social media. Earlier this year, she responded to Fashion Police host Giuliana Rancic’s controversial comments about her Oscar’s look. During an episode of the show, Giuliana said Zendaya’s dreadlocks made her look like she “(smelled) like patchouli oil… or weed.”
Not taking the situation lightly, Zendaya used the opportunity to educate the Fashion Police host and others. “There is already harsh criticism of African American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge others based on the curl of the hair,” she tweeted. “My wearing hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough.”
