You tell ‘em! Zendaya opened up in the spring issue of New You about her social media tussle with Modeliste magazine and her adamant belief that all humans are created beautiful.
“There is no such thing as ugly,” the 19-year-old Disney star told the magazine. “That’s a word that doesn’t really enter my vocabulary. If there’s any definition to being perfect, you’re perfect at being yourself. No other person can be you 100 percent; no one has your fingerprint; no one has your DNA. You are you 120 percent, through and through.”
Last October, Zendaya (nee Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman) criticized the Los Angeles-based fashion magazine after it digitally altered her already slender figure for its cover shoot.
“Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated,” she captioned a split image of the original photo and the Photoshopped picture. “These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love.”
In her interview with New You, Zendaya added that she felt it was her job to call Modeliste out on behalf of her fans.
“It is very important because I have a lot of young people on Instagram and Twitter who are looking to me for guidance and inspiration,” she said. “I feel responsible to be real with them, honest with them, and inspire and help them in any way that I can while still learning and figuring out who I am.”
The K.C. Undercover star is finding different ways to share her message of positivity these days. In addition to her TV tween star status, Zendaya has also competed on Dancing With the Stars and penned a book, Between U and Me: How to Rock Your Tween Years With Style and Confidence.
On Wednesday, February 3, the young actress released her new single, “Something New,” featuring Chris Brown and produced by Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds.
“When it comes to music, acting and singing, everything I do is a platform for me to do bigger things,” she said. “So I’m not going to sit here an make an album about self-love. … I’m going to make music that is reflective of who I am and what I am going through as a young woman and how I am learning about myself.”
