In 2016, the star clapped back online after being accused of being a “thinspo model” for “impressionable tweens.”
“Do you discover this funny? I’ll write one other paragraph to teach you aswell #youreallywannabenext?” she tweeted, later adding, “Now….everyone go look within the mirror at their beautiful body, and love that s–t #thickgirlswinning #skinnygirlswinning #weallwinning.”
Also in 2016, Zendaya called out a magazine for photoshopping her, writing on Instagram, “These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we’ve got. Anyone who knows who I’m knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the true pic (right side) and I adore it.”
The star later said this about excessive photoshopping in a Recent You interview: “There isn’t a such thing as ugly. That is a word that does not really enter my vocabulary. If there’s any definition to being perfect, you are perfect at being yourself. No other person could be you one hundred pc; nobody has your fingerprint; nobody has your DNA. You might be you 120 percent, through and thru. Whether it is thru my social media or whatever, I would like anyone who looks as much as me to know that I’m going through the identical problems. I even have to be confident in who I’m.”