Vons Is Sorry Their Clerk Was Racist to Zendaya

Y’all, it’s 2016. This kind of racism shouldn’t keep happening, but here we are.

And to Zendaya of all people, who has continuously had to deal with racist remarks. Most infamously, on the red carpet at the 2015 Oscars when Giuliana Rancic mocked her dreads.

Now she’s dealing with it from a clerk at a supermarket. Zendaya was at a Vons on Tuesday trying to buy gift cards (rich people, they’re just as lazy when giving gifts as the rest of us) when a store clerk allegedly told her she couldn’t buy them because she couldn’t afford them, and then refused to even help her.

And she’s definitely not one to stay silent about matters like this, so she took to Snapchat and posted what happened with the clerk on her story. Here’s what Z said:

“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. But the lady that was helping us—I don’t think she was a fan of our skin tone. 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 shit up. I just can’t make this shit up! You know? This is what we deal with!”

Zendaya said that after the clerk gave her a disgusted look, she told Zendaya,”You can’t afford this,” to which Zendaya replied, “It was $400!”

Well the store Zendaya was shopping at, Vons, issued a statement to E! News in which they apologize for the “inconvenience or misunderstanding.” Their full statement:

 “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. 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.”

And according to TMZ, Vons told them that the problem was not about race, but instead a policy the store has in place about purchasing over $200 worth of gift cards on a credit card.

Vons also told TMZ that the manager made accommodations to help Zendaya get the $400 worth of gift cards in the end.


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