Zendaya on racial comments she got in 2015, says that helped her make a 'lasting impact'

Zendaya recently spoke about the hate comments that she received for her look from the 2015 Oscars. The actor, in an interview with W Magazine, shared how the comments directed towards her were racist and the long way people have come since then. She recalled a fallout she had when one of the members from the red carpet said that Zendaya smells like patchouli oil or weed. This comment made by the member was not taken well by social media who blasted the person for their derogatory comments. 

Zendaya on the racial comments she got in 2015

In 2015, Zendaya walked the red carpet sporting dreadlocks. Following this, a member passed the above-mentioned comment. Further on, after immense hate and backlash received on social media and by the press, Zendaya spoke about it in a post made to social media. In the statement released by the actor, she expressed her disbelief for people who judged others based on the curl of their hair. In the post, she clearly mentioned that there already was enough criticism for a particular group in society, that now people had also begun to judge people based on their hair. 

Speaking to W Magazine, Zendaya revisited her post and said that is exactly how change happens. She added that it made her feel very uncomfortable at the time, after getting to hear the comments she had received. However, it was those moments that made her think she could have a lasting impact. The actor thus mentioned she was determined to make an impact on what people saw and associated people of colour with. Thus the actor made her statement back then to shut down the trolls who had been hating on her hairstyle. 

Since then, the actor has come a long way with experimenting with her looks in various projects such as Euphoria and Malcolm & Marie. Zendaya told the magazine that even after her 2015 statement, she will continue to speak on issues of representation and race in a productive manner going forward. She explained that she likes to watch things in a positive manner and thus wanted people to look at her incident in a positive way and learn from it.