After grocery shopping in Los Angeles at Von’s Supermarket, with a friend, Zendaya the 20-year-old actress/singer/dancer and K.C. Undercover star describes a shopping experience.”So we just got out of this Vons. Now, I am trying to buy a lot of gift cards. Now, there’s some certain, specific things you have to do when it comes to buying gift cards,” Zendaya said. “There are certain limits and some things, which is understandable. OK, cool. So I’ll take a less amount, whatever. But the lady that was helping us—I don’t think she was a fan of our skin tone.”
“Not at all,” Zendaya’s friend chimed in. “She was rude.”
“Extremely,” the actress agreed.
“In fact, I recall her not trying to help us at all, saying that we couldn’t buy the gift cards, and then throwing my wallet. You can’t make this s–t up. I just can’t make this s–t up! You know? This is what we deal with!” Zendaya said, adding that the sales clerk gave her a nasty look as if to convey the message, “You can’t afford this.” But, according to the Disney star, “It was $400!”
The next day, a rep for the grocery chain addressed the incident in a statement to PEOPLE: “At Vons, we strive to treat each and every customer with the utmost respect. There is a policy that limits gift card purchases using a credit card. Zendaya was able to purchase gift cards up to our limit, and we apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding.”
“We respect Zendaya’s voice in the community and similarly are committed to diversity and inclusion,” the statement continued. “Moreover, we understand that race is a sensitive issue in America and view this experience as a reminder that every interaction is an opportunity to treat each customer as we ourselves would like to be treated.”
Zendaya was previously on the receiving end of a racially-charged comment when E’s New’s anchor Guiliana Rancic judged her Oscars look on Fashion Police. Rancic said Zendaya looked like she smelled of “weed” and “patchouli because her hair was styled in dreadlocks.
