Model and actress Zendaya has alleged that she was a victim of racism in a supermarket, claiming that a store clerk refused to sell her $400 worth of gift cards because of her “skin tone”.
“The lady that was helping us… I don’t think she was a huge fan of our skin tone,” she told her fans via Snapchat on Tuesday evening (September 6th), saying that the clerk at Vons threw her wallet back at her, causing her cards to fall out, while paying for groceries that afternoon.
“’You can’t afford this’ is how she looked at me,” 20 year old Zendaya told the camera while being driven in a car with her friend. “It was $400!”
Zendaya claims the store clerk refused the sale on the basis of her “skin tone”
She prefaced the story by telling viewers what they were doing. “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. There are certain limits and some things, which is understandable. OK, cool. So I’ll take a less amount, whatever.”
More: James Gunn responds to critics of Zendaya’s ‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ casting
However, when Zendaya got the check-out, the assistant wouldn’t allow her and her companion to buy what they wanted.
“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. You know? This is what we deal with,” she said, before her driving companion added “because we’re black”.
“Long story short,” Zendaya continued, “there is so much progress to be done in our world.” She did mention that the store’s manager resolved the situation and allowed her to purchase her gift cards.
Nevertheless, the clerk’s attitude and behaviour shocked her. “My cards were loose. So, like, my card fell on the scanner, and she was about to keep scanning the next person. I was like, ‘That’s my card! What are you doing?’” she continued.
As of the time of writing, Vons has not yet commented on the alleged incident.
More: Zendaya gives powerful acceptance speech as she wins Kids’ Choice Award
