Do we like Zendaya?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Years of visible support for LGBTQ+ people and Black women, a charity record, and no harmful words or acts found; the record on her conduct is thinner than on her politics.
Zendaya is an Oakland kid who got her start at a local Shakespeare company, the Cal Shakes Conservatory, before Euphoria turned her into one of the biggest names going. She's the same person who has been hauled through a fair few tabloid cycles without ever picking up a nasty reputation.
On the harm test she's about as good as it gets. In her 2020 Emmy speech she told young people there is hope and said to activists, “I see you, I admire you, and I thank you.” In a British Vogue interview she said feminism has to include trans women.
Her best-known stoush was in 2015, when she was 18. Fashion Police host Giuliana Rancic made remarks about her hair at the Oscars, and Zendaya posted that there is “a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful.” Rancic apologised and said it had nothing to do with race, and Zendaya handled the whole thing with a lot more poise than most adults would.
The recent Paris moment is a bit of a storm in a teacup. Reports say video shows her acknowledging Brigitte Macron and shaking her hand while seated, and some online called it rude while others said it was no big deal. Some speculated she hadn't recognised Macron, and no statement from her has been reported.
The real good stuff: in February 2024 she donated $100,000 to Cal Shakes, the theatre company where she got her start, to help fund sound and lighting upgrades. Most of the other chatter about her is rumour and feud talk from tabloid territory, and we found no court case or credible misconduct report.
The honest gap is that the record is mostly about what she says and gives, with less on how she treats staff and co-stars. But nothing credible points the other way, so she gets a strong pass.